


Shingeki no Kyojin imagines

by Koyukiy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 3 year old reader, 3 year old reader remembers the basics of what's going on, But screw it because story reasons, Can this be considered an Erwin & Reader when it's supposed to involve everyone?, College AU, Deaf Reader, Embarressed Eren, Everyone & Shy!Reader, Extreme slight mention of Hiromu Shinbo, F/F, F/M, Frank is a random guy I made up for this story, Furlan Jr. Church, I see Erwin being a doting parent, Jean needs love too, Jean still messes with Eren, Jeffrie Marcie and Luke are random names I thought up for the story, Levi remembers something he probably shouldn't remember, M/M, Maybe might turn this into a book of Levi imagines, Mentioned Armin's Grandfather, Mentioned Shadis, Mommy!Hange, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Persocom Levi, Pranks, Protective Armin is protective, Protective Levi is protective, Requests, Slight Protective Erwin, So I turned this into a mixed imagines book, Sweetheart Reader, Thug Levi, but no promises, chobits AU - Freeform, daddy!erwin, gender neutral reader, male reader - Freeform, mischievous reader, one shots, pride month, shy reader, sick reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-09 06:03:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 60,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koyukiy/pseuds/Koyukiy
Summary: Imagines of Shingeki no Kyojin characters.





	1. Levi x Sickly!Reader - Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An imagine of Levi with a Sickly!Reader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A story I wrote for fun a long while ago and it's just been sitting in my computer. I thought, "Maybe I'll post it..."
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Living in the underground was a living hell for a healthy person, let alone for one who was sickly. Which is why Levi was so protective of Y/n.  
  
Y/n helped Levi in his time of crucial need. He needed food, water, medicine and warmth or he would have died. He managed to catch a nasty cold that was going around; it was flue season, after all. She somehow spotted the boy in the darkness of a lone alley and decided to stay with him, making sure he'd survive. She gave him everything he needed and more and once he was well enough to walk without stumbling, she finally left to her own home.  
  
Eventually, once he had a good roof over his head, he came to get her, finding out where she lived and personally visited himself. It didn't take any time at all to see that her health was extremely low—which he had neglected to notice before. She had told him she was born sickly, which almost drove him insane. How could someone like her be living by herself?! She was most certainly an easy target! It's a miracle no one's messed with her yet! It took (a lot of) convincing, but she eventually gave in and left to live at his place.  
  
She was kind, caring and easily got along with everyone. Everyone who crossed her path loved her, including Levi's gang and friends.  
  
Levi made sure she always had everything she needed, especially medicine. She was always ill. No one touched her without Levi's permission _and_ supervision. No one was allowed to enter the house if they were the slightest bit sick. It was as if Y/n was in constant lock down. It frustrated her badly and she wasn't afraid to show it.  
  
"I'm just afraid to lose you...I can't stand not having you here."  
  
That was basically a love confession and Y/n couldn't stay mad at him.  
  
Y/n put up with his and all of his friend's occupation. She knew that it was to survive as well as to support her. Sometimes she couldn't stay on her feet long enough to make a meal for everyone when there were ingredients, or clean the house for everyone when they were "working". She felt useless. She felt like a burden.  
  
"Hey, hey." Levi held her close to his chest as her tears fell. "Don't ever think like that again. You are not useless. Especially not a burden. You mean the world to all of us here. We don't know what we would do without you."  
  
"...Are you sure? I mean all I do is slow you down—"  
  
"Y/n. What the fuck did I just finish telling you?"  
  
"...Alright. I understand."  
  
"If you ever start feeling like this again, tell me right away."  
  
"Yes." she smiled.  
  
She noticed that about him. He acted careless and nonchalant, but he cared for each and every one of his people. He also never asked. It was never a question. He was demanding, even when he wasn't trying to be and he cussed quite often. That's just how he spoke. His speech is why at first he's a bit hard to speak to, but once you get used to it, you know what he really means.  
  
Today was just another regular day, but somehow the day seemed a little off from the moment she woke up. When Levi, Furlan and Isabel made to leave the house, that uneasiness only grew.  
  
"Wait." she walked up to them. "I understand you need to do this, but couldn't this wait until tomorrow?"  
  
"What is it?" Levi asked.  
  
"It's just...I don't know, but something isn't right. Please don't go."  
  
"Don't do that." Y/n knew that meant Levi felt conflicted. "We have to."  
  
"I know, but please, I'm begging you."  
  
"Y/n." Levi used a stern tone.  
  
"Furlan." Y/n silently begged Furlan to back her up.  
  
"You know, Y/n always had a strong sense for these things." Furlan started. "Maybe we should listen to her."  
  
Levi, Furlan, and Isabel shared a look before Levi sighed.  
  
"...Fine." Levi stepped away from the door and took off his 3DMG. "I'll make you something hot to eat."  
  
"Thank you." Y/n breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.  
  
"Come on, Y/n." Isabel spoke and led her to her room. "Don't stress it. We're not going anywhere."  
  
Y/n ate on her bed and laid down as Levi sat next to her like he always did. He spoiled her with that. He stayed by her side and held her hand until she fell asleep, then he glanced at her once more with an apologetic look in his eyes before he silently left her room, closing the door quietly behind him.  
  
"Let's go." he told Furlan and Isabel while picking up his 3DMG and strapping it on.

Y/n woke up with a start, a horrible, forlorning feeling enveloping her. They're not in the house anymore, she knew this, but she called out to them regardless, fear heard in her voice. However, no one answered her but silence.  
  
_Oh, no, no, no, no, no..._  
  
She got up quickly, scuffed her knee when she fell in a hurry to the front door and as she opened the door, she had to grip the handle and tried her hardest to stay on her feet. Already, she was fatigued. Already, she had to catch her breath, but she must get to them. At this very moment they could be danger. She feels this in her gut. She had to find one of the members. Even if they don't know where they are, they could find them quickly and they could take her to them. Just as she thought this, she caught sight of one of them, Frank, a little ways from the house.  
  
"Oh, thank the goddesses! Frank!" she called him like her life depended on it. As far as she knew, Levi's, Furlan's and Isabel's did.  
  
Hearing her cry, he instantly recognized her voice. He turned quickly and rushed to her as she tried to do the same.  
  
"What are you doing out here?!" he asked her as he helped steady her.  
  
After all that special care Levi gave her, should she really be running about?  
  
"Please help me...find Levi!" she had to pause mid-sentence to take a deep breath. "I have this horrible feeling. Please, Frank!"  
  
"Ok, sure!" He's got to get her to calm down. "But where the hell do you think we should look? This place isn't exactly small, y'know."  
  
"T-The Marketplace, maybe?"  
  
"Maybe, huh?" Frank muttered to himself, then nodded to her. "Hold on tight. We'll find them better by air."  
  
Frank took shortcuts he knew weren't going to get him caught. They were halfway to the marketplace, when Frank noticed something odd and landed. He kept Y/n close to his chest, as he pressed his back against a wall, hidden in the shadows. An easy task—especially at night; the underground wasn't very well sustained with light sources, even during daytime. He chanced a quick peek and recognized the Wings of Freedom emblem on their backs.  
  
_'What are **they** doing down here?'_ Frank thought as he took another peek. His eyes widened at his find and he hid himself once again. His grip on Y/n's back pressed her closer to his chest.  
  
"What is it?" Y/n whispered. He was starting to worry her. "Did someone see us?"  
  
"No, we're safe." Y/n opened her mouth to ask another question, but it was answered before the words left her mouth. "I found them."  
  
"Oh, thank goodness! I have to—"  
  
Frank's grip tightened once more when she tried to detach herself to leave.  
  
"Frank—"  
  
"You can't. There are scouts over there and it doesn't look like they're having a good chat. I need to get you back to the house before they realize we're here."  
  
"Frank...I understand. No matter what, you or I can't be seen, right?"  
  
"You got that right. You're important. Everyone wants you safe, Levi most of all. I'm going to make sure of it."  
  
"Thank you, Frank. Don't ever change. After this, I want you to keep yourself safe. Promise me?" she asked as she put a hand on his rough cheek.  
  
"Yeah, I promise. Now, let's get you—"  
  
"I'm so sorry for this!" _Please forgive me, Frank!_  
  
In a burst of what little strength she had, Y/n broke away from him and sped right for the scouts. At last, she saw her closest friends, but gasped at their poor states. Levi's face was forced into a muddy puddle beneath him by a blonde man. He was forced to kneel in front of a different blonde man, who knelt in front of him when the other blonde man pulled him back upright by his hair. Y/n didn't slow down and got close enough to hear Levi agree with the blonde in front of him about something, until another soldier grabbed her by the waist, preventing her from getting any closer.  
  
"Ah! No!" she cried out, an arm reaching for her friends.  
  
The trio silently gasped, seeing who it was and resisted the urge to call out to her. The blonde man who was previously facing Levi turned to see the commotion and walked toward her. She froze, her arm lowering. The soldier holding her was the only thing keeping her from collapsing.  
  
"And you might be?" his face was drawn in neutrality.  
  
"Sir...I beg you. P-Please don't take them..." Y/n was panting.  
  
He gave her a small smile, but it wasn't entirely friendly.  
  
"And you know these criminals how?"  
  
Y/n remembered a conversation Levi had with her when she was still getting used to living with him.  
  
_"If anyone gives you trouble, you call me and if anyone questions you, you tell them,"_  
  
Y/n looked at the man straight in the eyes and without a doubt in her soul, she spoke with conviction. "I am Levi's wife."  
  
The man's eyes narrowed, but had a glint of amusement. "Wife, you say?" He looked back at Levi and found Levi staring right back at him with a deadly glare, daring him to touch her.  
  
"Yes, so please don't take them."  
  
"I'll take you instead."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"You want to stay with him correct?" Y/n nodded. "Then you are coming along with them."  
  
Y/n sighed, finally letting her body relax. The soldier holding her let out a surprised "Oi!", almost dropping her when she suddenly put almost all her weight on his arms.  
  
_'I'm fortunate to have met her now. It saves me later's grief.'_ the blonde thought.

* * *

On the ride to the surface, Y/n found out the blonde man—who seemed to be leading everyone—was named Erwin Smith and the other blonde was Mike. In the one good look Erwin took, he realized Y/n had to go to the hospital.  
  
"The survey corps is no place for the weakened." Erwin explained. "I'll make sure you get there safely." Erwin once again caught Levi's threatening glare. That he'd better treat her right in every aspect of the word.  
  
True to his word, Y/n was admissioned in the hospital and she was to stay until she was well enough. The surface was beautiful beyond what she thought, yet she was imprisoned once again and kept from roaming freely.  
  
Her friends had no time to visit, far too busy with full filling their duties as soldiers. They did, however, speak through letters of their days and feelings as well as questions of how she's being treated and whether or not she knew when she will be healthy enough to finally leave the hospital's care. Her favorite part of the day was receiving and reading those treasured letters.  
  
One day, she was at last permitted to leave the hospital for one day. She eagerly wrote so in her latest letter about her upcoming visit. They weren't truly done righting her health, but it has been stable enough for her to venture about, so she eagerly took this opportunity to visit her friends for the first time in months. Commander Shadis knew about the girl and found out about her visit, so he arranged for a one-time ride for her, stating that the sickly shouldn't go through trouble just to visit friends and family.  
  
As soon as the four friends saw each other, they rushed to each other for much needed embraces. Levi waited for his turn. He wanted his embrace to be his alone, not shared with even his closest friends. His hold was tight yet gentle, protective and relieved. From the look of it, you would think Y/n was made of glass.  
  
It was a free day, so the trio had the whole day with Y/n. They smiled, reminisced, joked and ate together. Y/n's complexion was bright and showcased exactly how healthy she had become. The trio still saw familiar patterns that revealed she wasn't yet completely cured, but this was still an enormous improvement. When the day was nearing it's end, Furlan and Isabel left Levi and Y/n alone with a smooth and practiced parting, silently urging the two to do what they had been trying to get them to do since before they left the underground city. Levi scoffed irritably at their sudden parting, unaware of their plan. Since he was alone with her, he might as well do what he had planned. Suddenly, he felt nervous and scowled to himself. _Seriously? **Now?**_  
  
"Close your eyes." he spoke and fished something from his pocket, but suddenly paused when he glanced at her. "Brat...! No peaking."  
  
Y/n giggled at being caught red handed, deciding to be good and just go along with it.  
  
"Keep your eyes closed and give me your hand." She did just that and now her confusion was starting to rear it's head. What in the world is Levi planning? Suddenly, she felt something slide onto her ring finger and her surprise startled her enough to open her eyes wide. "I want you to stay with me for as long as we both live. Will you?"  
  
Alone with Y/n, he showed his rare, bashful side, bright hope swirling in his eyes. She was speechless, all her words including her agreement lumping in her throat as she felt her eyes water. After a moment, she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck in another embrace. He immediately hugged her back, one arm around her lower back to pull her flush against him.  
  
She nuzzled her cheek against him as she happily replied, _"Yes!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Absolutely.
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	2. Jean x Shy!Reader - Misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An imagine of Jean and a shy Reader!
> 
> I apologize for any character being a bit oc. I tried my hardest to match them to their respected personalities! I also apologize for any mistakes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this head canon that Jean has a thing for long hair.

Your mother passed away when you were young and your father was in the Scouts. As he was always busy, you were always mainly in the care of a good family friend, Grandfather Arlet; the parentel grandfather of Armin Arlet. When your father had died in service, Mr. Arlet took you in as Armin's adopted sister. Armin helped you with your grief and the two of you spent so much time together, you became almost inseparable. You were always small for your age and a shy little thing, becoming timid after your father's death, but being so used to Armin, he saw a more playful side of you. You wouldn't play outside without him and if anyone you didn't know approached, you would hide behind him. The same happened when you met Eren and Mikasa for the first time, but soon enough you warmed up to them and showed them that playful side that Armin has told them so much about.

_"Oh, hello, Armin and Y/n!"_

_"Hi, Mrs. Yeager!"_

_"H-Hello, Mrs. Yeager...Is Eren a-and Mikasa home?"_

_"Eren, Mikasa! Armin and Y/n are here!"_

_"Hi, guys." Mikasa first greeted and walked out to stand by you and Armin._

_"We'll be back later, Mom!" Eren rushed out, waving as he exited his house._

_"Be careful out there! And be back for lunch!" she shouted after him._

_"I'll make sure to remind him." Armin replied to her as he trailed behind at his own pace with you at his side._

_"Thank you, Armin." she beamed._

_"Armin, I'm a little hungry." you informed him later on._

_"Oh yeah, Mrs. Yeager wants you home for lunch." Armin looked to his friends._

_"Then, we'll meet here later on." Eren suggested._

_"Sure!" you replied._

_After going back with Armin and eating, you joined Armin outside once again, this time with the book of the outside world his grandfather gave him._

_"It sounds so wonderful, the outside world." you chatted with him as you both walked._

_"It does! And one day you, Eren, Mikasa and I...We'll get to see it."_

_You beamed at him. Just the thought gives you shivers of delight. You've read the book along side him as he read it out loud to you. Everything that the book says sounds absolutely amazing, especially that bit about that large body of water filled with salt. You would love to see that._

_Nearby, a trio of boy bullies heard your conversation and decided to take it upon themselves to mock you. After a short exchange, the bullies turned violent, picking up Armin by the front of his shirt and pinning him against a nearby wall. You gasped and thought it a good idea to find Eren and most definitely Mikasa, but the third bully blocked your path and grabbed your arm when he noticed you trying to leave. Armin refused to fight back and you didn't exactly want to fight them either, until you heard Eren's voice. It wasn't until the bullies noticed Mikasa running right behind Eren that they turned tail and ran._

_You four later settled by the riverbank musing about the outside world and the walls keeping humanity safe. Although Eren seemed upset at humanity's current lifeway, you were relieved. As long as you and your friends can continue talking and playing—even if it's behind the safety of the walls—you were happy._

_Suddenly, an explosion. The ground trembled as if an earthquake, sending everyone scrambling to keep their footing. Armin ran toward the direction he thought that explosion came from and you followed Armin silently, keeping up with him until you followed his gaze to the wall. One red hand gripped the top of wall Maria, making it crack beneath its strength. Your mind blanked._

_"That wall is fifty meters high!"_

_Armin's voice sounded unusually distant to your ears. When you saw the titan's face peak from behing the wall, the rest of your senses and nerves were suddenly lit ablaze. Quickly you turned to your adopted brother._

_"Armin—"_

_All hell broke loose and you barely had time to warn Armin and your friends that you should make a break for it._

_"Th-They blew a h-hole into the wall." you heard Armin mutter in disbelief._

_Eren and Mikasa bolted away toward their home and you and Armin tried to stop them, but you realize he was petrified by fear and you were both shaking like a leaf._

_"Armin! Come on!" you took hold of one of Armin's hands and squeezed tightly._

_With a gasp, he broke out of his shocked state. He suddenly pulled you along in a burst of energy from his adrenaline. You knew exactly where he was going. He had to get someone to help Eren and Mikasa._

_After running into Hannes and asking him to please help your friends, you both hurried to find your grandfather, but as you ran into a crowd of panicked people, you got separated from Armin. You tried calling out to him and you could hear his voice, but you couldn't get to him. You shouted that you would meet him at the boats. You barely heard his strained, "Be careful!" and went on your way. You had to take detour after detour and you started to fear that you might have to push your way through people to get to the boat. There were an endless amount of people trying to save themselves and each other around every corner, but you decided on pushing a bit more further down before going back and forcing your way through. You have to make it back to Armin no matter what._

_You didn't recognize where you were any longer. You still had an idea on how to get to the boats, so you weren't completely lost, but you didn't think you've been to this part of town. You began to inwardly curse yourself for not being more adventurous, but you quickly stopped yourself, thinking that now it shouldn't matter._

_A sudden scream of bloody murder made you jump and a frozen chill ran up your spine, your adrenaline pumping once more. Whatever direction that came from, you have to run in the opposite way immediately. You decided that now would be a good time to head back. As you started your way back the way you came, you felt tremors start up, getting stronger and you immediately recognized a titan was roaming about and getting closer. You immediately quickened your pace to the point where you were basically running, a cold sweat breaking out; you felt it running down your back. Ohh, you should've just pushed your way through the crowd, but you thought you would have been pushed right back out by the sheer amount of people packed and pushing all together. You can't give up, Armin was counting on you on returning to him and Grandfather. You have to make it back! You hadn't realized you were running at full speed until you finally slowed down when you spotted the top of the boats. You managed to find a clear way! After this, you knew that there was no way around the people. You picked up your pace once again, smiling victoriously, but accidentally lost your footing on something and fell. You whimpered from the pain on your hands and knees, but froze when you noticed you tripped on an amputated leg, the long pants and shoes still attached to it. Feeling eyes on you, you slowly looked up and found a 3 meter titan staring straight at your face. You panicked, scrambling to your feet, but before you could gain some distance between it and you, it reached for you as quick as lightning and grabbed you by your legs. You stared in horror and helplessness as it opened it's mouth and dangled you dangerously over it. It's breath smelled horrid, a strong festering iron; it made you gag, feeling your stomach acid at your throat. When it dropped you into it's mouth, you stumbled around, frantically and failing miserably to claw your way back up, it's saliva was making it even more difficult. You screamed, hoping that a soldier would hear you and kill it before you fell into it's belly. Although you were failing, you were actually slowing your doom, until the titan tilted it's head back, most likely thinking you were taking too long to slide down. You screamed even louder as you felt yourself slide down even further. Reaching out toward the now closing mouth, the last thing you saw before darkness filled your vision was an older Armin reaching in for you, sporting a brown uniform jacket and a single sword in one hand._

* * *

You awoke with a start, cold sweat making your clothes and hair cling to your body. As you panted, trying to catch your breath, you saw a worried Mikasa gazing at you, a hand on your shoulder. It seems she was trying to wake you up. Her eyes were apologetic, knowing exactly what you were going through.

You had heard before that the nightmares eventually stop, but you know now that was a lie. It never stops, you merely come to terms with it and become numb.

Wordlessly, she helped you up, your brain finally registering where you were and that it was morning. You looked around, noticing only you, Mikasa and Sasha—who was eating something—were in the room, meaning the rest of the girls were already in the showers.

"T-Thanks, Mikasa." you finally piped up, voice still hoarse from sleep.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Mikasa nodded, leading you out of the girl's side of the barracks.

"Sasha. You'll get in trouble." Mikasa called just before walking out the door.

"Oh! Coming!" you heard her hurriedly say.

Another day at training camp was the same as everyday: breakfast, training, schooling, lunch, hand to hand combat, more training, dinner. You were relieved the day went well so far without someone messing it up for everyone else, having to share their punishments. By dinner, your muscles were aching from the extra lifting you had to do while helping with said dinner. You happily made your way to the table your friends were sitting at and sat next to Armin with a satisfied sigh. You smiled at Armin and your friends as a greeting and they returned it in kind.

"Feeling ok?" Armin asked.

"Mhm. I'm feeling pretty good actually." you pulled on your hair tie, letting your hair fall softly passed your shoulders.

Normally, you leave your long hair in its bun, unless you were relaxing in your shared room, but you felt like releasing it early today.

Dinner started passing uneventful and peaceful for once, idle chatter here and there, between you, your friends and those around you. You noticed Jean's voice rise and fall enthusiastically as he spoke to Marco at the table over from yours, but at some point after you let your hair down, you heard a sudden sputter, immediately followed by a surprised Marco.

"Jean?!" you heard him exclaim. "What's wrong...?"

Jean grumbled under his breath, uncaring that he just caused a scene seemingly out of nowhere. You glanced over briefly and saw Jean's cheeks adorning a red color.

"I wonder what's gotten into him?" you mused out loud.

"Who cares!" Eren replied, rather loudly. "He probably finally realized everyone wasn't lying about his horse face."

Jean was bound to respond to that...Strange though, Eren isn't usually the instigator...

"I can hear you, Yeager!"

"Maybe because I said it out loud!"

You let out a disappointed sigh. _Damn it, and dinner was going so well, too..._

"Here we go again..." you muttered as they started shouting at each other and Armin chuckled nervously beside you having heard you. "Something must be bothering Eren and since this is Eren we're talking about, this might get out of hand."

"Don't worry, we won't let that happen." Armin replied, referring to himself and Mikasa, who was ready to stand if they didn't calm down soon.

You noticed Armin didn't include you in the equation, his protective side for you showing. He started being protective after he saw you with Hannes, Eren and Mikasa after the fall of Shiganshina. While Eren worked through his grief by claiming he will end the titans, you were still quite shaken. Whatever you went through made you mute for quite some time, the shock taking your voice. He, Eren and Mikasa helped you through it and you eventually found your voice again, small and strained at first from not using it. From then on, Armin seemed persistent in trying to keep you safe and by his side at all times when possible. The only time he wanted to keep you away was when you agreed in joining the scouts with him. He was against it wholeheartedly, even trying to convince you to stay safe behind wall Rose, but you were having none of it, having already made up your mind.

You watched as Mikasa stood. Looks like it's already getting out of hand, you noticed they were holding each other by the front collar of their shirts. Armin stood as well, going to help Mikasa break it up before Shadis figures out there was an altercation again. Since the rest of your little family stood and you were finished with your food, you figured you'd clean up for them while they took care of things. You returned quickly to find the trio waiting for you. As the four of you exited the building and headed for the dorms, you brushed some hair back so all of it could stay behind you.

"Don't you think that's a little long, Y/n?" Eren spoke up.

"Really? Do you think so too, Armin?"

Eren convinced Mikasa earlier on to shorten her hair, but if Armin agrees with him, you might do the same.

"Kinda." Armin replied. "But I think it should be fine as long as you pick it up, like you always do."

Jean, who was also headed toward the boy's dorm with Marco, heard the conversation and started cursing silently when the topic of cutting your hair came up, but relief washed over him when Armin spoke, his shoulders losing their tension.

"I guess you're right." Eren spoke again. "But what if you have your hair down while flying?"

_What the **fuck**, Yeager!_ _What is your problem with long hair?!_ Jean wanted so badly to yell at Eren, but causing an altercation now would be suicide on his part.

"Hm, you have a point. There could be a time when I won't have time to put it up, what with possibly going into battle and all...Maybe I _should_ cut it..."

_'Fuck! She looks good with her hair down! I have to try to convince her otherwise!' _Jean was on a mission and he was going to make damn sure he gets his message across.

So when Armin and Eren were settled in and lights turned off, Jean snuck out in the darkness of the night to hopefully get you to come out so he can speak with you for a moment. If he waited until morning, you might cut your hair in the shower or something, he can't chance it! He managed to get to the girl's side without a cinch, so all he has to do is get your attention somehow. He knew you slept right next to the window, but knocking might be too loud and might possibly wake up the other girls and throwing rocks might also be too loud. Maybe if he threw dirt?

Some sort of weird shuffle gently rouse you from your half-asleep state. You must have imagined it, so you shifted into another comfortable position and closed your eyes, already feeling the sandman work his magic, until you heard it again at the window. That sounds too forced for it to be the wind. Slowly, you tried to subtly look out the window, but Jean threw a bit more dirt again, grimacing when there was a louder noise than the last two. There was probably a small rock. He noticed some movement when you gave up on your subtle sneak peek. You were surprised to see Jean at your window, and as you gave him a confused look, he silently motioned for you to come out and meet him. What does he want at this hour? You were half thinking of leaving him and going to back to sleep and rest your sore muscles, but your curiosity was stronger, so you silently left the room. You quickly took a pair of slippers you left out in case you had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, and met Jean, who was still at your window, fidgeting.

_What if she decided to go back to sleep instead of meeting him? _Just the thought was sending his nerves up the roof. You psst-ed at him lightly to get his attention, which worked. You noticed he looked relieved and he mentioned you to follow him so you two can get somewhere where you won't bother someone with your talking or someone won't bother you for talking.

"Jean, what are you doing? You know how dangerous this is?"

You don't even want to think about what will happen if you're caught, especially by Shadis.

"I just wanted to say that I heard you guys talking after dinner and I think you shouldn't cut your hair."

Wow. That was pretty bold on his part. You felt your face heat up slightly.

"Why does it matter to you?" As soon as it left your mouth, you realized just how rude you sounded and scrambled to fix it. "I-I mean! You weren't part of the conversation or anything, so it shouldn't matter to you! N-No, I mean, w-why do you care if I cut it? It shouldn't bother you any? I-I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to be rude..." you trailed off slowly.

Oh, Goddesses. You were so bad at this. Although you got better with your shy and timid nature, you were still bad with face to face conversations if it's not with Eren, Armin and Mikasa.

But, this was the cutest that Jean has seen you. He knew you were timid and he knew you tended to shy away from people you weren't familiar with, you barely even talked if it wasn't with the three friends you were always with. But, this... He didn't realize before just how cute you were when you were flustered. You were just as cute as Krista, plus added bonus with the long hair.

His face flushed when the moonlight hit your face just right as you turned your head after your fluster. He saw the red radiating off your cheeks, how your e/c orbs seemed to sparkle—which were suddenly finding the dirt on the ground interesting—the way your soft, long tresses shined in the moonlight...His body moved on it's own and he suddenly found himself pinning you against a tree, his hands resting on the trunk behind you on both sides of your face. As you looked up at him in surprise, he locked eyes with you, slowly reaching down and gently holding up a small lock of your hair.

"Because you're beautiful. Don't cut it."

You caught his plea at the end of his sentence and your face completely flushed at his compliment. This is the first time someone has called you beautiful. You were called cute and pretty, sure, but beautiful is such a strong word and he thought you fit the bill. You could tell he was genuine with what he said by the seriousness shining in his eyes. You felt like you had to say something in return, so you spoke your mind about what was commonly told to his face.

"T-Thank you, Jean...and since we're being honest..." you paused for a couple of seconds to arrange your thoughts in the order you wanted to speak. "I honestly don't know why Eren and the others call you 'horse face'. In my opinion, your face doesn't resemble a horse's at all."

Silence surrounded the two of you as neither of you spoke. Jean didn't know how to respond. Since coming to military training, this was the first time someone had admitted that to him. The silence was getting awkward for you; you were expecting a response of some kind, but instead he stared at you with a sort of admiring expression in his eyes that you found sort of cute.

"Um, so...! W-We should probably head back!" you piped up.

"Ah," your voice snapped him out of it. "Yeah...I guess we should."

You two walked back with a silence pregnant with embarrassment, although it wasn't awkward. It felt good to get that confession off your chest. You've been thinking about the horse face thing for a while now, but you didn't think you were ever going to have the courage to tell him. The reaction he gave you was kind of worth it, even though it got a bit awkward afterward. When you got back to the girl's dorms, you waved at him and silently headed inside, taking his input of your hair into consideration, even if it didn't really concern him.

* * *

"Oh, you changed your mind?" At lunch, you sat at your usual seat with your friends and Armin spoke up curiously. Jean, who also sat in his usual seat with Marco, heard Armin and listened intently, hoping his plea persuaded you. He decided to keep himself from looking at you, if you had cut your hair regardless, he was going to scream.

"Yeah, I decided to keep it." you shrugged. "I'm used to my hair being this long, I don't think I want to change it."

"Just be careful." Eren shrugged.

"I will." you smiled.

Jean smiled, inwardly celebrating victoriously. You chanced a glance at Jean and ended up catching each other's eyes. He took this chance to flash you a grin, but before he could fully execute it, a soft pink color rose to your cheeks and you hastily looked down to cut contact. He blinked, then chuckled as he rested his cheek in the palm of his hand, looking away from your table.

"Something funny?" Marco piped up from beside him.

"It's nothing."

Marco shot him a come-on-tell-me look, but Jean just shook his head, planning to keep that flushed expression of yours to himself. Armin noticed your silent exchange and gave you a soft smile. He doesn't know what happened, but he's happy you found yourself a new friend, even if it was Jean.

* * *

From that point on, you and Jean had this silent relationship of a kind of cat and mouse. He always managed to get you flustered, therefore you would run away and if the moment struck him when he wanted to get you even more riled up, he would give chase. He won't literally run after you, but he would follow you and strike up a conversation if he wasn't already in one with you. All it takes to get you stuttering is close proximity. As soon as he invaded your personal bubble, you became a mess and you would flee. There was one time he had his fun for longer than usual and Armin actually stopped him, telling him that enough was enough. Eren was nearby and took notice of Armin talking to Jean, at the ready in case he needed to be, but thankfully Jean conceded defeat and stepped off for a moment. That day, the only other time he approached you was at dinner, full hours after keeping his distance to give you space.

Jean invited you a few times to sit with him and Marco, but you didn't feel comfortable suddenly leaving your usual table and friends, so you kindly declined. Instead, Jean and Marco joined you and as long as he didn't sit next to Eren, there were no complaints.

But somewhere in the third year of training, Jean started sitting at his old table, away from you. You, having grown accustomed to Jean and Marco's presence around you, questioned it when they started distancing themselves at meal times. Marco had apologized and had stated that it was Jean's idea when you confronted him.

_"It's nothing serious, don't worry. Listen, I really should be getting back to this. I'll talk to you later, ok?" _Jean seemed busy or unfocused when it came to you confronting him.

As days turned into weeks, Jean became more and more distant. You had thought that maybe you had angered or upset him, so you decided to speak to him about it, but...

_"I can't talk right now. Sorry."_

He didn't even look at you. Maybe it was too late. Maybe you noticed your mistake too late and now he doesn't want to talk about it. It certainly seemed like he hated you, you were literally the only one he acted differently towards. That was the only explanation you could come up with and you had become such good friends, too. You couldn't get it out of your mind, as much as you didn't want to think about it. You told yourself you should focus on more important things and forget about it.

It took a simple passing. Jean passed right by you without a single glance. You voiced his name when you saw him, but it seemed like it didn't reach him; it didn't faze him in the slightest. So you stood there, left in his dust and that was enough. That moment had hurt; like as if a needle had stabbed you in the heart and you couldn't contain it. Into your hands, you wept silently to yourself, until Armin found you after thinking it was taking too long to retrieve a simple broom. He took you in his arms and held you until nothing but soft sniffles were left and then asked what had happened. Though shy and timid, you weren't one to cry easily.

"I think Jean hates me and there's no way to find out why. I thought we were getting along fine. I honestly don't know what I did..."

"Hey, hey." Armin cooed. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Armin..."

"You did nothing wrong. Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of it."

Armin gave you a stare filled with absolute and it was enough for you to believe, even if for the moment. He gently led you back inside to finish your daily chores before Shadis has your hide.

Jean was warned by everyone, it seemed. All on different dates.

Eren was the first. He witnessed an early cold shoulder and decided to give him a "friendly" reminder about how he didn't appreciate that kind of behavior towards his friends, especially his childhood friends. They were most definitely part of the family by now. Jean told him the absolute truth: he was merely a little busy at the moment. It's not like he won't speak to you later.

Marco was the second to speak up on a different day. After Jean blew you off for the second time that day, Marco stayed behind with you to reassure you that both of them are still your friends, they're just busy at the moment. What, with the survival test coming up and such, they had to be ready. Thankfully, you understood and was put at ease.

"Jean, wait a minute!" Marco called after him as he caught up. "Do you really think that was OK back there? You made her truly upset."

"Crap, I know." Jean sighed. "I'll have to apologize later."

"What happened? Before you couldn't keep your eyes off her."

"She's too much, Marco." Jean sighed again. "I need to keep my distance until I can tell her my true feelings."

"Oh, so that's it! Still, do you think you could maybe put her down more gently? That was kinda rough."

"I know, alright?! I'll fix it later."

Mikasa was the third. After witnessing him deny a seat next to you, she decided to say something after the meal. She's been noticing how he had been neglecting you. There was something she noticed he needed to let you know so your worries could be put to rest. So she pulled him aside for privacy and provided him with a single sentence: "Don't make her cry." It sounded more like a threat than advice. So Jean let you know that he needed some more time away from you. It stung a bit, but you chalked it up to him being stressed out because of the up coming survival test.

Armin was the last to speak to him. Jean was paired up with Marco for the survival test and that came and went, yet he still avoided you. And then finally, you were convinced that he hated you. Before when he started to enter their little circle of friends, Armin had told him to try being more gentle when he speaks to you, since Armin knew you would take Jean's words and tone to heart, especially since your friendship with him was just starting.

Jean was warned by everyone, it seemed. Despite that, he had royally fucked up.

"Jean." Armin called out to him, after tracking him down.

"What?" Jean answered as he shoveled hay for the horses.

"I need you to stay away from Y/n." Armin didn't have the patience at the moment and got straight to the point.

"Hah? What did I do?!"

"You did enough." Armin stared at him with an intense expression in his eyes. He wasn't joking around.

"Just tell me what I did. I'll make it up to her—"

"As I remember, we all told you, even Marco. Don't talk to her and just be glad it wasn't Eren who came to see you instead."

"What the fuck?"

"Goodbye, Kirstein."

"Wha—Wait! Armin!"

Jean ran a hand through his hair. Fuck, he knew he should have spoken to you sooner. It can't be too late. Maybe he can get you to come out and talk to him later.

At night when it was time for bed, Jean waited for everyone to settle in and fall asleep before he silently snuck out. Once again, he tried to be as quiet as possible and only get your attention by throwing the tiniest of rocks at your window. When he noticed the slightest movement of your curtain, he tried to be quick to make an 'I'm sorry' gesture with his hands folded in front of his face while hanging his head. After waiting for 10 minutes, he thought that it didn't work and turned to start heading back. He's going to have to think of another way to get you to speak to him. Your little circle of friends aren't going to to let him near you, Armin made sure to make that clear. Maybe Marco can help him out...

He managed to take a few steps toward the boy's sleeping quarters when he heard the quietest 'psst!' and he whirled around to find you staring at him.

Oh, thank the goddesses it worked! He quickly made his way over to you and you made a 'follow me' gesture with your hand as soon as he got close. You led him back to the same spot he led you to before, where no one would be bothered with your talking.

"I'm sorry." Jean immediately apologized. "If I made you upset in anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I was an idiot for not explaining things to you earlier—"

"I thought you didn't want to be near me anymore..." you said in a soft tone.

"That's wrong, of course I do! I just..."

"...'Just' what?"

"The truth is...I panicked back there."

"Back there?"

"Last time I saw you! I wasn't expecting to bump into you and I panicked."

"Why would you panic?"

Here goes nothing. "Because I told myself that the next time I saw you, I would ask you to go out with me."

You paused, momentarily surprised. You've never had someone ask you out before. You felt your cheeks burn.

"But I chickened out at the last second and made a run for it. I'm sorry." Jean continued.

You looked away from him, hoping that he wouldn't notice the change of color on your cheeks.

"I-It's OK..." you nodded. "Thank you for explaining, I understand now."

"Thanks for that. I really messed up. Armin let me know just how much."

"Ah, that's right." you remembered that earlier, Armin met up with you to let you know that he had taken care of the situation. "Tomorrow, I'll let him know that this is just a misunderstanding."

* * *

"He did what?" Armin asked you at breakfast when you explained to your three friends what had really happened.

"The point is, Jean apologized. I think we should give him another chance." you said.

"I think we should give him a well-deserved punch to the face." Eren retorted. Mikasa agreed with him, nodding her head.

"Please? One last chance?" you pleaded, clapping your hands together.

After a moment of looking at your puppy-eyed face, Armin sighed.

"Alright, one last chance." Armin looked to his friends. "But if he messes up again, there's no saving him."

You looked at Eren and Mikasa, hoping they would agree.

"Fine." Eren huffed, not liking the decision.

"This is his last chance." Mikasa added.

You beamed at your friends, opening your mouth to thank them, but the words were taken out of your mouth.

"Thank you." Marco said from behind you.

You turned and smiled at him. "Marco!"

"So, he finally told you?" he greeted you with a smile of his own.

"He could have told her before the situation got where it did." Armin muttered, but was still heard by everyone.

"I tried to tell him the same, but he told me he wasn't ready." Marco explained. "How are you feeling, Y/n?"

"I'm all right. I'm happy I know the truth, now."

"Good. I was kind of worried he wouldn't get the chance to tell you."

_"Because I told myself that the next time I saw you, I would ask you to go out with me."_ You felt heat rise to your cheeks when the confession rang in your head.

"He's waiting at the other table. Should I tell him it's OK to come over?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Armin confirmed.

Quickly, you gathered your courage and stood up.

"May I come with you, Marco?"

"Y/n...Are you sure?" Armin asked.

You nodded. "I'll be right back."

You looked to Marco, who smiled knowingly, then silently lead you to Jean. Jean finished his breakfast quickly, having had ate to hide his stress from wanting to sit next to you at your table, yet knowing that he would most likely be chased away. After voicing his concern, Marco volunteered to help him out and ask.

When you approached him, he looked up at you in surprise, fully expecting Marco in your place. You smiled at him and held out your hand, silently inviting him. He looked at you for a moment, then smiled and took your hand, letting you lead him by the hand to your spot at your table. You sat down, but instead of letting go of your hand, Jean continued to hold it even after he sat down next you. You had full intention of letting go of his hand when you sat or even when he sat, but he tightened his hold on your hand when you loosened your hold. The longer he held it, the more embarrassed you got. His smiled widened, remembering his entertainment: flustering you.

"Jean." Armin called him, trying to hide the bite in his tone, but he failed.

Having an idea why he called out to him, Jean's answer was pulling your joined hands out from under the table and displaying it on top, tightening his hold a bit more. He watched as your cheeks grew darker and he chuckled finding you utterly adorable.

Ah.

Armin shook his head. He really wished he would stop teasing you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adorable when you blush.
> 
> I was thinking of maybe a part 2 to this but honestly I'm super undecided about it.
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	3. Eren x Deaf!Reader - Give This A Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 8-chan requested an angry/embarrassed Eren boyo trying to tell a deaf reader that he likes her!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank you, 8-chan, for this wonderful, BEAUTIFUL request! I saw Deaf!Reader and became super excited to write. I don't know why xD I got ya covered, hon!
> 
> I'm sorry it's kind of short, but I hope you like what I came up with and thank you again for the request! 
> 
> I apologize if there are any errors!

He first saw you on one of his first few outings to town after he joined the Scouts. He couldn't keep his eyes off of you, following your movements with his gaze. You finally looked toward him after feeling stared at, but instead of the usual scowl people shoot him or trying to avoid him in any way, you smiled.

The brightest, most pure smile he had ever seen. He flushed and couldn't stop himself from shyly smiling back, then you turned and walked away. He so desperately wanted to call out to you right then, but he couldn't since "he wasn't there to sight-see", as Lieutenant Levi put it as he called him to him. He couldn't get you out of his mind after that.

Two weeks later, which was the next time he went to town, he saw you again in just about the same place, reading under the shade of a tree. He wondered if you regularly come to relax under that tree. Perhaps, he'll see you around here again whenever he comes by. You looked up from your resting place and locked eyes with him. Again you smiled, adding a wave this time. Eren found himself smiling, returning a small wave and you went back to your reading. Every encounter, he would stare, you would smile, sometimes wave and go back to whatever you were doing beforehand with the smallest hint of a blush. Eren always noticed it, wondering why you had started to do that recently. Then, he decided he had to try to speak to you.

Eren doesn't understand. He simply doesn't understand why you don't respond when he calls out to you. Somehow, he hasn't had enough time to get to you and by the time he does, you're either too busy with errands or you're already gone.

It frustrated him to no end.

"I can't get her attention anymore!" Eren explained to Armin in exasperation while over dinner. "I try calling out to her..." he sighed.

"What happens?"

"It's like she doesn't hear me!"

"Aw, is titan boy having girl problems?" Jean cooed at him with a shit-eating grin.

"Can it, Horseface, before I take my frustrations out on you."

"She ignores you, huh? No surprise there." Jean couldn't help himself. Eren's having girl problems, it's the perfect opportunity to mess with him!

Eren stood up abruptly, just about ready to punch his stupid his face in.

"Eren." Mikasa called out him, trying to get him to sit back down. She doesn't want the cleaning freak of a Lieutenant to come over to "solve" the problem. Eren sat back down when she pulled on his shirt sleeve.

"Yeager, stop whining and just go up to her and tell her." Jean said, resting his cheek against the palm of his hand.

"I don't need advice from the guy who almost lost his girlfriend!"

Armin visibly cringed at the mention of his sister being Jean's girlfriend.

"I _got_ her and I'm telling you to stop being a wimp! You're a Scout for Goddesses' sake!"

Eren scowled at him as said girlfriend rubbed Jean's arm in an attempt to get him to calm down and leave one of her brother's alone. Eren's been trying! It's not like he's been going up to you then running away before he says anything! The next chance he gets, he's going to rush over to you before you have a chance to escape him again and just tell you! After dinner, he asked and got permission from Lieutenant Levi to go into town next week and he thought of exactly how he was going to get your attention and how he was going about telling you he liked you. He's going to succeed this time! He found you once again under the shade of a tree, reading peacefully like you usually like to do. Ok, he just needs to call out to you and—He realized that he didn't even know your name and he wanted to facepalm. He's just been calling out, "Hey!" or "Wait!" or something similar, of course you haven't been paying much attention.

"Excuse me." he called out as he neared you, but you didn't even flinch. Are you really ignoring him? He tried being a little louder. _"Excuse me!"_

When that still didn't work, he sighed and walked right up to you, finally catching your attention when you saw the tip of his shoes. You looked up at him with curiosity in your eyes, straight into his. Goddesses above, your eyes were much more beautiful up close. His brain blanked as he started getting lost in them, but he snapped out of it when he noticed your expression shift from curiosity to confusion. Embarrassed, everything he told himself flew out the window and he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

_"I-I like you!"_

Did he say that too loud? He noticed the few people within earshot glance his way and his cheeks burned. Instead of verbally answering him, you reached into a light brown satchel at your side, pulling out a notebook and a pencil. Eren watched you curiously as you opened it, quickly scribbled something down and turned it over for him to see.

_ **"I'm sorry, but I'm deaf. Can you please write down what you're trying to tell me?"** _

Deaf...

_You're deaf!_

Now it makes sense! No wonder you always seemed like you never heard him! Thinking about it, Eren feels a bit foolish about this now that he knows.

With a patient smile, he gently took the notebook and pencil you were holding out to him, wrote down exactly what he had tried to say and handed it back. He sat in front of you, studying your expression as you read and watching you pause as red blossomed on your cheeks.

_Too cute._

You snapped your head up, gazing at him as if you couldn't believe what he said, your e/c eyes a shining open book. _You t__ruly feel this way about me?_

The expression had him wanting to reach over and kiss you. Finally, you looked down and started to write, seemingly stumbling over what you wanted to convey on paper, occasionally crossing out a word or two. After a moment, you passed the notebook back to him, your fingers slightly shaking with nervousness. Or was it excitement?

_ **"I've wanted to speak to you for a while now, but I've been too embarrassed."** _

Eren's smile widened, happy that he wasn't the only one wanting to talk and he also came to the conclusion that it meant that you had been thinking of him, too.

_ **"My name is Y/n L/n."** _

_"Eren Yeager."_ he wrote.

You paused. Crap, she recognized his name, didn't she?

_ **"You're that boy who can turn into a titan!"** _

Looking at your expression almost made him laugh. Your eyes were wide and shining brightly in genuine interest. Thank the Goddesses his ability to transform didn't scare you away. You stopped when your gaze landed on his shirt and curiosity made him follow your eyes to the symbol on his uniform.

_ **"You're in the Survey Corps, aren't you? You bare the crest of the Wings of Freedom."** _

He nodded and noticed your lips pull into a frown. Please don't tell him that you're one of the people against the idea of the Scouts...

_ **"My father was in that regiment."** _

Was. Past tense.

Eren frowned as you continued to write.

_ **"I remember he used to hug me like he would never get to again, every time he had to go outside of the walls."** _

Eren felt his chest tighten when he looked up and into your sad eyes. He skimmed over the page and saw the words "And then he" crossed out, before you pulled it back to write again.

** _"I don't want to have to go through that again."_ **

The boy reached out and grabbed both of your hands, acting on instinct. He leaned in and spoke slowly, making sure you can read his lips.

"I will never leave you behind."

He gave your hands a squeeze as he looked into your eyes again, those emerald eyes expressing intense absolute; _this_ was a genuine promise.

You didn't know if you _could_ go through that pain again. If you became serious with him and he didn't return one day...The day of when you got the news about your father flashed in your mind, you couldn't stop the tears coming to your eyes. Eren's eyes changed their expression to worry and he so badly wanted to hug you, but thought it was too forward. He knows. He knows what went on in your mind to bring you tears, so he held your hands tighter in place of a hug.

You didn't want to go through that again. _But..._

You gently pulled one of your hands out of his and put up your thumb, index finger and pinkie, while keeping your ring and middle finger down. You held your hand out, palm facing away from you and you moved it back and forth slightly. He gave you a slight confused expression, so you mouthed,

_ **"I like you."** _

Instantly, his face flushed and he beamed, smiling, his eyes sparkling like bright emeralds shining in the sunlight.

_You want to give this a chance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like you.
> 
> I snuck in a little reference to my last story~
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Shy!Reader - Where Is She?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Krolina in which Shy!Reader gets turned into a child via Hange!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I went a little overboard with this one, this was just shy of 3500 words! I hope you enjoy! Sorry if there are any mistakes!
> 
> Thank you so much for this request!

"Where is Y/n?"

It was the question of the day. Most of everyone participated some way in looking for you. You were last seen cleaning along with everyone else in the castle until Hange sought you out, thinking you were the perfect candidate for whatever it was she was planning. You were hesitant, but the scientist almost quite literally dragged you away. Everyone knew how much of a handful Hange may be, you might even be stuck with her for the rest of the day, so you were assumed to be seen by tomorrow.

But, no one had heard hide nor hair about you.

By the time breakfast came around, most of everyone was curious. You didn't normally miss breakfast. In fact, you would get and be sad until lunch if you missed it, so that rung a little red bell with your friends. By the time training came around, literally everyone became aware of your disappearance. Some of your friends even took the liberty of using their break time before training started to take a look around and search.

"Where is cadet L/n?" Lieutenant Levi narrowed his eyes as he rounded their newest recruits.

"We haven't seen her since yesterday, sir." Armin volunteered to answer.

"She's been missing since yesterday and you brats didn't say anything?"

"W-Well, Lieutenant Hange had called her yesterday..." Armin continued to be the cadet's willing spokesperson, but had started to get intimidated by Levi's newfound irritation.

"Separate yourselves into groups of two and begin training. When I get back you had better be well into it."

Levi scowled as he walked away. _Of course_ this involved Hange. Why _wouldn't_ it? He searched outside with the captured titans, but didn't find her there. He scoffed in irritation, finding Moblit on his way back inside.

"Oi." he called his attention. "Where did shitty glasses go?"

"Lieutenant!" he saluted. "The Section Commander is visiting Commander Erwin."

Levi quickly made his way to the Commander's office, his irritation steadily growing. He swears that if Hange doesn't know where you were...He tossed the doors open forcefully as soon as he could reach them, instantly spotting the standing Commander in front of his desk and the person he was looking for, sitting in a chair in front of said Commander's desk. The glaring man locked eyes with the scientist, who had turned her head toward the doors when it opened.

"Where the hell is my cadet?!" he demanded, but stared dumbfounded at a small child sitting on her lap when he came around. The babe was currently wrapped loosely in a blanket and trying to disappear into Hange's shoulder. She tried (and failed) to sneak a peek at Levi, then quickly went back to Hange, stuffing her face in the crook of her neck when she quickly noticed Levi was staring directly at her.

Instead of verbally asking, Levi raised an eyebrow at Erwin after giving the small child a good up and down. Erwin answered him by silently giving his attention back to Hange and Levi followed his lead. Hange nervously smiled.

"Funny story about her..." the scientist nervously laughed, her unoccupied hand rubbing the back of her head. She stopped when Levi sent her another glare. "Y-Y/n."

Hange nervously called your name, which confused Levi until the small child in her arms responded with a soft, "Noo..."

Levi was dangerously close to strangling this woman. Erwin was certain—judging by the intensity of the anger in Levi's burning eyes—that if you weren't in Hange's arms, he would have jumped the scientist.

"Y/n." Levi grounded out between his teeth.

"Nooo..."

Levi clenched his fist and Erwin was sure he was about to shout, but Levi instead closed his eyes, exhaling through his nose. After, he knelt in front of Hange, speaking in a soft tone.

"Y/n." he repeated, you softly grunted in response. "Look at me." He waited a moment, but spoke up again when you didn't move, his voice even and still soft. "Now."

Slowly, you turned your head to look at him. Your eyes were a bit teary and surprisingly, Levi's eyes softened a bit at your expression. He realized he may have startled you with the force he put behind opening Erwin's office doors.

"Do you know where you are right now?" he questioned. You nodded. "Where?"

"Daddy's room."

Wha—Who the fuck was—Levi whipped his head around to look at Erwin. His Commander had both of his palms pressed on his desk, while his eyes screamed, _"Don't look at me, I have no idea what she's talking about."_.

The expression almost made Levi chuckle, but fine. Whatever. "Do you know who I am?"

You nodded. "The top knight."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Why am I "the top knight"?"

"You'we the stwongest and you fight fow the castle."

Ok, well, that's not bad logic and this at least confirms that you have the basic idea.

"Do you know who's holding you?"

"Mommy."

Where were you even getting this stuff from?!

"Why don't you let "Daddy" hold you? I have to talk to "Mommy"."

Hange gulped, feeling as though Levi's anger just got worse. She was fearful to get an earful from Erwin, but Levi was much more terrifying. She shot Erwin a pleading glance, she would much rather be scolded by the Commander, but the man ignored her, instead going up to her and carefully scooping you, blanket and all, into his arms. She deserved whatever Levi had coming for her for turning one of his more talented soldiers into a toddler. Erwin shifted you so he was carrying you securely, a hand under you and the other on your back as Levi gripped Hange's arm and dragged her out of the office, anger back in his eyes.

"L-Levi, I can explain!" Hange tried to hastily explain, but he silenced her by glaring at her once again and he pushed her through the door first, then closed the door behind him with more force than he meant.

Erwin felt you jump, immediately trying to hide your face into his neck, your arms going around his neck. Erwin sighed through his nose.

What exactly was he supposed to do with you now?

He used the hand on your back to rub your back, trying to ease your sudden fright. He sat down after thinking that he can't exactly walk around with you in nothing but a small blanket, so he settled for completing some paperwork. You were conveniently pressed against him and was small enough that it was easy for him to look down at what he was doing. Eventually, you shifted—which forced him to pause what he was doing—to sit on his lap and lean against him. He found himself thinking that you must have been an easy child to raise if you were _this_ well-behaved. After another moment, he took a break, leaning back in his chair. He constantly kept a hand on you, even while sitting. He began to absentmindedly stroke you with his thumb as he thought on what was going to happen from here. Were you going to eventually go back to normal, or were you going to have to grow up again naturally? Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling through it. Accident or not...Why does Hange have to add such unnecessary stress? 

You shifted once more, sitting up on your knees on his lap. You reached up and cupped his cheeks with your small hands, instantly snapping him out of his thinking and giving you his attention. You looked into his eyes with the most innocent orbs he thinks he's ever seen in his life. Thinking about it, most children your age must wear that same innocence, right?

"Evewythin s'ok, Daddy." your voice was high and you spoke a bit slower than you used to. "Mommy will be back soon."

Were you trying console him? Perhaps because he seemed distressed. Did you think it was because he was worried about "Mommy"?

......

Erwin smiled at you. If he ever has a chance to become a father, he wants a child _just like you_.

Levi came back thirty minutes later to report that he made "Mommy" go to town and buy you some clothes. Hange had revealed that she had you take some kind of concoction she had made and she wasn't exactly sure of when the effects will wear off, but it will. Both Erwin and Levi were relieved, more Levi than the Commander because the Lieutenant didn't just witness the potency of a pure soul. Levi entered the room to find you and the Commander smiling at each other, after all.

Hange returned just in time for dinner and promptly got you out of the blanket and into a simple, light pink dress. She also bought you white socks and white shoes, so you didn't have to go around barefoot. She wasn't completely sure if the clothes she bought would fit, but she was extremely relieved that everything she bought did. You had complained about your hunger as she dressed you and she had told you that you'll get some food as soon as you're dressed. Erwin couldn't go too far from you without you quickly getting upset, Hange having to reassure you that "Daddy" was just outside the door. Levi, Hange and Erwin quickly learned that you were a Daddy's girl and Levi gave the Commander the stink-eye when the man seemed to light up at the idea.

As you neared the mess hall and heard chatter, you slipped behind Erwin's leg, trying to conceal yourself and forcing him to be aware of how he walked as to not accidentally hurt you. Trying to hide did nothing when you and Erwin entered. It didn't take long for the cadets to notice a little girl clinging to the Commander's leg.

"Sir?" Armin once again spoke up first, his sharp eyes one of the first ones to noticed. "Who's that little girl?"

All eyes suddenly flew to you and you fidgeted in place, now trying to desperately disappear behind his leg. Armin hoped the girl wasn't related to your disappearance, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was. Erwin nodded, silently telling him that he will explain in a moment. He walked to the front where he was easily visible to everyone and began speaking loud and clear.

"Attention!" he called. "An unfortunate accident fell upon one of your fellow soldiers. She was known to be missing up until a couple hours ago when she was brought to my attention." With little effort, he picked you up from behind his leg and cradled you in his arms.

You whined against the surprised stares and hugged into Erwin once again, your face buried into the crook of his neck. Some of your classmates let out surprised gasps. There was no denying that you and the little girl looked very alike, even having the same hair and eye color, but the babe was slightly chubbier.

"F/n L/n has associated Lieutenant Hange and I as her parent figures. We will continue to work with her until she returns to normal."

Your friends so desperately wanted to go up to you, but refrained themselves. They wouldn't want to surround the Commander and risk punishment.

Sasha's hand shot up, eager to ask a question. Erwin raised an eyebrow, but let her go ahead.

"Can she speak?"

"She speaks fluently."

Several more hands shot up. Erwin resisted the urge to sigh. He shouldn't have answered the first question.

"Does she know what's going on, sir?" Eren asked. 

"She has the basic idea of where she is and what's going on."

"Has she recognized anyone besides associating them as someone else?" Armin spoke up.

"Yes, she referred to Lieutenant Levi as "the strongest knight"."

There was a scattered response of amusement as Erwin stepped down after he heard you mutter, "Hungwy, Daddy." He raised his hand.

"Any further questions will be answered after dinner."

He sat next to Hange, who had an extra serving of food after getting his own.

"Come on, Y/n, time to eat." she cooed and took you from him.

Erwin sighed in relief. As cute as you were, it was starting to get a bit tiresome having to work around you because you didn't want to let him go.

Even as you were distracted with eating, the only person you talked to besides Erwin and Hange so far was Levi, you shied away from anyone else. Levi believed it was because you worked directly under him, so even if you didn't want to speak with him, you answered him anyway.

"Is it good, Y/n?" Petra cooed, but pouted when you tried to hide your face into Hange. "How is that fair?"

"Y/n. She asked you a question." Levi said.

"Mm." you nodded. "Yummy."

Petra pouted further, some of her teammates chuckling.

"Who's this?" Levi asked you, pointing at Mike next to him.

"Sniff." you answered.

Mike leaned in and sniffed in your direction, which caused you to giggle. Mike cracked a smile. You were cute indeed. It seems that was enough for you to place him in your newly formed inner circle. After you were done eating, Erwin asked Levi if he could gather your friends for any further questions since he was sure you were going to put up a fuss if he left.

"Brats." Levi called as he neared the table. "Come now if you want to speak to her."

Your friends reacted immediately, rushing over to the table and half surrounding you. Your entire field of vision in front of you was suddenly and quickly taken up. You stared up at them curiously.

"Aw, she's so cute!"

"And so small!"

"Hey, she's not trying to hide. You think she recognizes us?"

_"Hi, Y/n!"_

You cringed at the sudden loud voice and started to tear up.

"Oh no!"

_"Conny!"_ a couple of voices scolded in unison.

"I'm sorry! I thought she would react like she usually did!"

"She's turned into a baby, you can't just shout in her face!"

"Much less expect her to respond positively."

"Idiot. Do you know nothing about children?"

"Y/n, I'm sorry, OK? Please don't cry?"

You instead got worse, more tears welling up in your eyes and you let out a loose hiccup. You cuddled into Erwin's side and his eyebrow twitched, one of his hands coming up to rest on your back. It took seven seconds for one of them to make you cry. Not even Levi's rash actions made you cry. He's going to force every single one of them away if any of those tears in your eyes falls.

A pleasant tune floated from Krista's lips, the rest of your friends recognizing it as a tune you used to hum when you were upset. You had once said it was something your mother used to do when you were young to help you calm down. Your mood seemed to calm the more she hummed and it got to the point where you were looking at her, your teary eyes quickly becoming a thing of the past. You sniffed as she stopped now that your mood has improved enough that she was certain you won't cry.

"Oh! Good thinking, Krista!" Hange congratulated, a bit softer now to avoid making you upset again. The rest of your friends followed her example.

"It was a tune she taught me. She used to hum it when she was upset."

"Pwetty humming, Angel." you spoke up and Krista blushed.

"Kyaa~ Her voice is so cute!" Sasha cooed.

"Wait. Is she going to be sleeping with you, Commander?" Jean questioned. You seemed very attached to him.

"No." Erwin answered quickly. "Hange will be sharing her quarters with her."

"I wonder if she'll let us hold her?"

"Would you mind, sir?"

Erwin quickly scooped you up and gently sat you on the table, finding it effective, as it seems you tended to cling when you didn't want to move. If he removed you quickly however, you wouldn't have time to react and cling. You stared at your friends once again, locking eyes with Krista. You raised your hands at her, wishing for her to quickly pick you up. You would much rather be in _somebody's_ arms with so many people staring at you. She cooed, beaming at you as she picked you up. You hugged her immediately, a habit you developed in your training years. You would always hug your friends, especially Jean or Eren, as it always seemed to get them to stop arguing with each other.

"Ooh, me next!" Sasha bounced in excitement and stood in front of Krista.

You took a moment to notice Sasha wanted a hug next, but when you did, you gladly let her take you from Krista and you wasted no time in hugging her, too. She proceeded to press her cheek into yours and move her face to nuzzle, but you whined in discomfort, uttering the first actual name since your transformation.

"Sasha~" you clearly whined.

It was something you've always had a problem with. Every time Sasha returned your hug, she had always nuzzled your face and you would always verbally protest.

"I can't help it, you're just so cute!" she said and tried to nuzzle again, but you pushed her face and tried to wiggled away.

"Noo!"

You were upset yet again and Erwin had a weird itching on his fingers to take you away. What was wrong with him?

"For Goddesses' sake, Sasha!" Eren snatched you out of Sasha's arms. "Can't you see she's uncomfortable?!"

"Eren~" Now was Sasha's turn to whine. She didn't want to let you go just yet.

You reached up and held Eren's cheeks so he would look at you.

"It s'ok." you said. Well, if he was irritated before, he wasn't now.

A look of recollection flashed on your face and your eyes searched the rest of your friends until you locked eyes with Jean. You reached a hand out and flexed your tiny fingers at him, beckoning him over. When he did and leaned in so you could reach his face like you wanted, you put a hand on his cheek and kept another hand on one of Eren's. You took a moment to look between them.

"No fighting."

They slightly flushed. It was clear as day you were still looking out for them, even in this form. Even in your training years, you were always a sort of mother hen, making sure the more troublesome cadets weren't falling too much out of line.

"We're not fighting!" Jean said.

"Geez, Y/n..." Eren said.

It amused your friends greatly, a couple of them chuckling at them. Suddenly, you whined, rubbing your eyes sleepily and that sent Erwin over the edge.

"That's enough." he commanded calmly, standing from his seat.

"Looks like it's someone's bedtime~" Hange sang, asking Eren to hand you over.

Before Hange walked away with you, however, Mikasa reached over and stroked your head, muttering a soft, "Sleep well."

You caught one of her fingers before she fully retreated her hand, giving it a little squeeze.

"Good night, 'Kasa."

An endearing nickname you gave her that Mikasa had grown to like. You were the only person to call her that and to hear you say it, even in this state, made her send you a caring smile. The rest of your friends sent you verbal good night's and sweet dreams and you waved as Hange walked out of the mess hall, following behind Erwin.

"How long did you say she would stay in this form?" Erwin wanted to remind himself.

"I believe it should last about a week. Perhaps a little under."

That's a problem. That's far too long a time for his mental health when it comes to you.

When Hange started to part from Erwin, even in your drowsy state, you whined about being separated from Erwin. You're seriously not good for his mental health. As a Commander, you can't sleep beside him, it's not professional, but as a stand-in father...

He can't seriously be getting into this.

The tears in your eyes slid down your chubby cheeks and without a thought, he plucked you from Hange's arms and cradled you to his chest, which you buried your face into. For a moment, both he and Hange stood in awkward silence, unsure of what to do.

Hange was supposed to take you to her room, but he just took her.

And Erwin reacted without thinking. What was he supposed to do now?

"...I suppose, she can sleep with me tonight."

Hange inwardly snickered. Your tears was all it took?

What a doting father...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is he supposed to do with you now?
> 
> I have this head canon about how Erwin would be a doting father, but only when it comes to holding them. Is it just me? I tried to give some freedom on who you think who said what near the end there. I hope it wasn't too confusing when I didn't specify who was talking. Also since this is set before the whole Ymir and tower thing, I felt it was right to call her Krista instead of Historia.
> 
> Hggnnn! I am seriously considering doing a second part for this because I just—I can't—
> 
> This accidentally turned into an Erwin & reader a little more than anything else, but I hope you still liked it, my dear Krolina! T~T
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	5. Persocom!Levi x Reader - Proud To Have You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chobits AU! In which Levi is a persocom!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Just a quick chapter to fill the void while I finish with requests! I say quick, but this story is 6,314 words xD
> 
> Speaking of requests, I'm sorry, I know I'm taking a while! But I promise I am working on them! (Almost finished with them honestly~) I can't help but apologize...
> 
> Just a little warning~ Some characters ARE OOC! I found it appropriate, as this is not the kill or be killed Shingeki no Kyojin world. Sorry if this upsets anyone! Also, sorry if it seems a little american-y in parts, I tried! T.T
> 
> A/N: This story is a bit old. I was scared to put it up before, but recently I thought "what the heck, you guys might enjoy it.". Also thank you guys so much for the kudos and for almost 1600 hits! I love you all!
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes! Hope you enjoy!

Tokyo. Where the best schools in Japan were. You moved from your small town in south Japan to study in Tokyo and you were also thinking of getting yourself one of those Persocoms you've heard so much about: how they were extremely handy to have around. Before you moved, you made sure you had enough money for your travel, as you have already taken care of everything for your apartment, including luggage and expenses, and for a new persocom. You figured it would indeed be helpful. You would be busy with looking for a job and going to school. You might need some help with the apartment in general, be it simple chores or even having a good balanced meal after being too tired to do it yourself.

And so, the first thing you did was find your nice, affordable little complex; a little place in a building named Gub Jogasaki, met the nice landlady, Chitose Hibiya-san, checked if everything was in order in your apartment, and left the building once more, to scout the area, find your school and also get yourself your new housemate.

Persocoms don't have many of the expenses that humans do, like food expenses for example, so it shouldn't be too hard to manage...right?

You found the persocom store you passed while finding your apartment and after browsing the persocoms in the windows, you stepped inside. They were impressive, extremely so; as well as expensive and you saved just enough. You started getting giddy just thinking about how he/she will react to one thing or another.

"Can I help you today?"

You turned and saw a worker of the store, a smiling older man with thinning dark hair.

"Um...Well, I came with one thing in mind." you said, looking around, knowing that he would know what you were talking about.

He let out a small, hearty laugh.

"What are you looking for? There are mini models: mobile models, full models..."

"Wow. I didn't know there were so many to choose from..." you said thoughtfully. "I guess I was thinking about a life sized one..."

You continued to browse through some more of the models the store had sitting on their own pedestals as you spoke.

That's when you saw him. Sitting peacefully between two female persocoms was the most beautiful male you've ever seen. Ebony black locks shaped in an undercut style and pale, smooth skin. He was a bit short though. Even with him sitting, you could tell, but he was extremely handsome.

"Ah, interested in him?" the worker saw you staring and you felt yourself blush slightly. "I have to warn you: this is one of our newest custom models we have taken in, but he's been returned several times now."

"Eh? Why is that?"

"Apparently, he has a bad attitude. I tried fixing his personality and even reset his software. But after all that, he was returned once more. Honestly speaking, I was about to take him off the shelf—"

"No way!" you interrupted him. "You can't do that to him!"

"Relax, little lady! He's just a persocom. I promise you in the future there'll be an even newer model looking just like him." he chuckled a bit.

"I'll take him."

"Even after learning about his personality, huh?"

"I don't care about that." you shook your head.

"You're the first!" the worker laughed a bit. "I'll ring him up for you then."

You smiled and bowed. "Thank you so much!"

* * *

In your apartment, you sat in front of your new persocom, who you had facing you, slightly hunched with his eyes closed and head slightly hung. You read the manual on how to turn him on and what to expect right after. How exciting! You were getting giddy again. Quickly, you dropped the manual and felt behind his earpiece for the switch—which wasn't behind his ear, but was actually in his mouth, you had a very hard time finding it, the switch was _really_ hidden, so you searched everywhere—finally clicked it and straightened up, waiting.

Immediately, the soft sounds of a computer turning on came out of him. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, straightened completely and lifted his head to look directly at you, blinking. His eyes were a beautiful steel blue and the corners of his lips curved slightly. A smile so small, you almost didn't catch it.

"Nice to meet you. Tell me your name."

His voice was wonderfully deep and he spoke smoothly.

"Oh. I'm L/n F/n."

"I assume Miss L/n is my new master."

"Yes." you smiled, beaming. "But, hold on, you don't need to be so formal with me. Call me F/n and don't you think of adding an honorific either."

"Understood. Input a name for me, Y/n."

"A name?"

Crap. You were so excited about getting him home, that you hadn't decided on a name yet. You paused to think, humming, but you didn't want him to wait for too long.

"I got it!" you exclaimed. "I will name you "Levi"."

"Understood. Inputting name."

"It's nice to meet you, Levi!" you bowed, giggling.

"Yes, likewise." he also bowed.

He was perfect. You had no idea what that shopkeeper was talking about. He's not even rude, let alone having a bad attitude. After answering more questions about yourself so Levi can get more of a feel for you, then organizing your apartment a little more after Levi finished, you left the building again, this time with a short male persocom falling into step with you.

"My!"

You saw the landlady sweeping out front and you greeted her as you passed her, until she noticed the new face.

"Oh, I just got him. This is my new persocom, Levi."

"Such a handsome persocom! It's nice to meet you."

He stayed silent and let his bowing do the talking for him.

"I'm going to go see if I can find a job. It's better to do this as soon as possible. I'll be seeing you, Hibiya-san!"

"Take care of yourself!" she waved after you.

* * *

"I should have made a list of the hiring shops when I past by earlier..." you muttered out loud, but mostly to yourself.

"There is a shop hiring nearby." Levi spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Really?! Where?!"

"It will take approximately 5 minutes to arrive to your destination. Turn here."

"Okay."

You noticed his facial expression rarely deviated from a stoic, bored expression. You thought it a bit strange, but kept your thoughts to yourself thinking that it's not a big deal.

You were proud to have him as your first persocom.

"We have arrived."

His voice pulled you out of your thinking state. You looked up at the sign, noticing it's a ramen restaurant.

"Excuse me." You walked up to an employee once inside. "May I speak with your hiring manager?"

You were told to wait and within a few minutes, a well-aged man walked out. When hiring came up, he told you he had already filled in the position. You thanked him and walked out a bit disheartened.

"That's one down." you sighed and turned to Levi. "By the way, how did you know about that hiring spot?"

"I did an internet search."

"Are you serious? That was almost instantaneous! You're amazing!"

Levi turned his head from you and scoffed a small "Tsk.". _He's embarrassed?_ You giggled at him, thinking how cute it was.

"So! Is anyone else hiring?"

Without a word, Levi started walking, leading you to the next spot. That one was also filled in and you sighed again when you walked out. You perked yourself up exclaiming, "No big deal. We've only tried two places so far. On to the next one!"

You both walked for the rest of the day, going to business after business, each with unyielding results. You decided to stop by a little cafe close to the last disappointing find for a little rest and ordered a small drink since you were feeling parched. The sun was now starting to set.

"This is harder than I thought." you sighed for the umpteenth time. "But I can't give up now! I will find a nice job!"

"...You're loud." Levi said with a low voice.

"Oh! Sorry..." You hushed yourself, a soft, rosy color rising to your cheeks.

"...How can you do that?" Levi spoke after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?"

"You came out of every establishment we've visited disappointed." Levi elaborated.

"Oh, well this is important. I need an income if I want to stay in Tokyo."

Levi opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a cute, small waitress wearing a french maid outfit. Her hair was shiny blonde and her eyes were a pretty blue.

"Here's your drink, My Lady. Is there anything else I could get you?"

"Thank you. Actually, do you know if you're hiring by any chance?"

"Miss Manager stepped out for a little while. She should be back soon if you want to speak with her."

"Thanks. I'll wait, then."

The waitress bowed and walked away.

You were just finishing up your drink when a pretty, red-headed woman looking like she was in her early 20's walked up to your table. She also wore a french maid outfit, and it fit her nicely.

"Hello, I am Petra, the manager of this cafe." she bowed. "I was told you wanted to speak with me?"

"Oh, ah, yes!" you stuttered as you quickly stood. "I was just wondering if you had any positions open by chance?"

Petra eased into a soft apologetic look on her face. "I'm afraid not."

"Oh..." you let your head fall slightly. "Well, thank you for coming out to meet me anyway."

"No problem at all. I hope the best for you."

"Thanks."

You ended up staying and ordering a little something to eat with a refill of your drink. Levi had put an elbow on the table, resting his head in his hand. In the middle of your meal, you thought you heard a little bit of a ruckus coming from the swinging door with a sign that read, "EMPLOYEES ONLY".

"Wonder what that was..." you talked out loud to yourself.

"It's getting late. We should probably head home soon." Levi effectively waved away your mild curiosity with his words.

"You're right. I'll have to keep looking for jobs tomorrow." you said while raising your hand to get the attention of the nearest maid.

Which happened to be Petra the manager. She quickly came over, slightly flustered.

"Yes, M'lady?" You felt ever-so-slightly important every time that was said to you.

"Could I get the check please?"

"Certainly. Give me a moment."

And she walked away. You immediately realized she acted slightly different and you looked to your persocom to confirm it. He merely dismissed your growing curiosity with a small shake of his head. To distract yourself, you went into your purse to ready your wallet so you can quickly pay and get home before it gets too dark. Petra came back a couple minutes later.

"Before I give you the check..." she started. You noticed Levi raise an eyebrow and a hint of impatience seemed to rise in his eyes. "I was wondering if you were still interested in working here?" her voice rose an octave at the end of her sentence with a small sentimance of hope.

That same hope lit up your face, and with a small smile you muttered, "You're not joking, right?"

"Well, one of my workers had a little bit of an accident early on, you see. She said that she was fine, but it seems that she made her injury worse..."

"I am!" you interrupted her, too excited to wait any longer. You quieted your voice, seeing a small surprised expression on Petra's face and you realized you were a bit loud. "Still interested..."

"Perfect!" Petra's face quickly changed to one of overjoy. "If you would please follow me?"

"Oh wait..." you said as you stood up. Feeling your wallet in your hands made you suddenly remember. "What about my bill...?"

"Oh, you can have your meal for free, for helping us on such short notice." Petra smiled.

"Really?!" you said as you followed her, with Levi following close behind you. "Thank you so much!"

"It's no problem at all, dear! It's the least I can do. Oh..."

You followed her into the swinging "EMPLOYEES ONLY" door and into the locker room in the back until Petra paused when she saw Levi standing beside you.

"Oh! Please don't worry. This is Levi, my Persocom."

"Ah, I see! He's very handsome, isn't he? Sorry, I've been holding that in for a while now!" a blush appeared on her face.

"Yes, he is!" you giggled along with her.

Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes by looking to the side, not really focusing on anything in particular.

"Now then," Petra quickly snapped back into business. "Tell me your size, so I can get you a uniform."

You tell her your size and she quickly goes into the closet and pulls one out a maid dress that was folded neatly in a box, still in its own plastic.

"There we are! Here, try this on and let me know how it fits. I will be waiting right outside this door. I want to give myself the element of surprise~"

"Okay! Thanks again!"

"Oh, no, dear, _thank you!_" Petra cheerfully replied and headed for the door until she noticed Levi hasn't moved from your side. "Levi, honey...You musn't watch a lady undress. Come, come." she softly ushered him out with her and closed the door.

You haven't thought of that. You and Levi are going to be living in the same apartment. It's such a small, little place and it's not like there's another room you can go into to change. You felt your cheeks heat up as you thought of it. You knew he's your persocom, but you can't help but get a little flustered about it. He's still male, after all.

When you finished getting dressed, you called out to Petra to come in.

"My goodness, you look like a little doll, you're so cute!" Petra exclaimed as she put a hand on her own cheek. "Levi, look, what do you think?"

You felt embarrassed and you felt your cheeks heat up even more.

"It suits you well." he replied, nodding a bit in agreement.

"Th-Thanks..." you genuinely meant it as you gave them a timid smile.

"How does it feel?" Petra asked.

"It fits pretty well, actually..."

"No need to be so shy, dear! You're going to be working in that same uniform after all!"

"R-Right!"

Petra giggled at you once more before signaling you to follow her. She led you to the kitchen where you met three girls. Annie, a blonde girl with a stern face, who was working on a customer's order. She paused occasionally to look at the girl who was sitting to her right, a worried expression in her eyes. You immediately noticed the injured girl who was a brunette, her hair in a pony tail. She was trying her hardest to not cry, with tears in her eyes and letting out small whimpers as a girl with ebony hair, that went down to just below her shoulders, tied her ankle with a bandage wrap. She muttered a soft encouragement as she worked, "Be strong, Sasha, I'm almost finished."

This girl, which you learned was named Mikasa, suspiciously seemed as stoic as Levi. The small difference was hers was stoic, emotionless; his was stoic, bored. You also the learned the name of the small, blonde girl that served you earlier; Historia.

Petra said the only thing you were going to be doing was cleaning up tables and wiping them down after customers. That seemed easy enough. Having had a job before, you were quick and efficient and if a customer called you, you were calm and knew exactly how to handle it. Plus, Petra gave you a quick run-down on how to greet guests and told you how someone will always be near until you got the hang of things. You worked for two hours until it was time to close down. You hadn't realized, but it was actually quite late.

"Thank you so much for your help! Oh, I can't thank you enough!" Petra hugged you, catching you off guard in the locker room while everyone, including you, were getting changed to go home.

You let out a cute yelp when she suddenly hugged you exclaiming, "You startled me!"

"Was that you?" a girl you met in the middle of your shift, Mina, asked.

"Ah? W-Well..." you stuttered feeling self-conscious.

"That was adorable!" Mina continued.

You felt your cheeks get hot for the fourth time today. You're really going to have to get used to everyone calling you cute and adorable. You heard a sudden knock on the door and Levi's voice floated through it immediately after.

"Are you ready to go home, Y/n?"

"Yeah!" you called back. "Just a minute!" You turned back to Petra after you quickly finished changing and bowed. "Thank you so much for hiring me!"

"No, thank you for covering for Sasha, sweety!" she smiled. "Now, you'd better go. Levi seems to be getting impatient." she giggled.

"Of course! Oh and good work everyone! Thank you for helping me!"

Scattered responses of no problems, sures, and thank you for your help were called after you as you walked out and closed the door behind you. Beside the doorway, you spotted Levi leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. When he saw you, he looked like he wanted to say something, but instead pushed himself off the wall and headed for the exit in silence. You sent him a confused expression that he missed.

"Is something wrong?" you asked as you exited the building.

"No."

"It looked like you wanted to tell me something back there."

He shrugged nonchalantly, effectively answering you without actually answering. You decided to leave the conversation alone until you got home.

* * *

You took off your shoes with a tired sigh as Levi closed the door behind you. Immediately, you got yourself into more comfortable home wear—after you made Levi turn around, of course—then you took a seat at the small table you had settled in the middle of the room. Levi sat across from you, waiting for you to tell him anything else you wanted him to do. After a moment, you looked him straight in the eyes with a determined expression mixed with a sprinkle of worry.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong." he repeated himself.

"If I did something to upset you, you should tell me, so I can fix it."

"You're perfect the way you are."

The answer caught you off-guard and you felt your face heat up for the fifth time today.

"Th-Then..." you took a moment to collect yourself. "Tell me what it was you were going to say earlier."

Levi let out an exasperated sigh. "I told you it was nothing."

This is going nowhere fast.

"Levi, I want to help you, but I can't if you don't tell me how you're feeling! Won't you please be honest with me?"

"You want me to be honest?"

"Yes!" you exasperated.

"...You're not going to like it. This is your only chance to back out."

That's a strange thing to say. You feel like you were forgetting something. "Give me your best shot."

Levi hesitated as he looked down at the table, as if collecting himself and he scowled slightly. You felt like you hear a soft hum of electricity, but it's so low that you're starting to think you're hearing things. Levi suddenly looked up at you and spoke with a calm voice while looking you straight in the eyes.

"You took too god damn long."

Whoa. Where did _that_ come from?

"I waited for you for fifteen minutes. Who the hell takes that long to change? Did you forget where you put your clothes?"

_"Apparently, he has a bad attitude."_ So _that's_ what he meant.

"It was getting late before we started walking home. That idiotic manager couldn't wait until tomorrow to give you the job?!"

"One of her workers were down..."

"I don't give a rat's ass! This is Tokyo, it's dangerous to be walking home at night! What would have happened if you didn't pick me up?!"

He scowled at you expectantly with knitted eyebrows and an intense look in his eyes. You were quite shocked; so this is the "bad attitude"! But Levi was holding this all in. It was only after you pushed him and gave him permission that he let everything out all at once.

"W-Well...If I still found that cafe, I probably would have..."

Oh.

"_That's _what's wrong."

He's worried about you.

"You want me to be honest..." he looked away, his scowl deepening. "Then you'll take me back to that shop once you've had enough."

Wait, wait, what?!

"Who said I would do that?!"

_Oh._

"Don't act like that old geezer didn't already tell you!" It sounded like his voice shook for a second. "You're not my first owner!"

_He's scared._

You stared at him, your eyes wide with surprise.

"_That's_ what the fuck is wrong! I'm not going to change just because someone doesn't like how I speak!"

Your body moved on it's own, clinging to him like as if his life depended on it. He remembers he was abandoned. What a terrible thing to do. You couldn't even imagine how he's feeling, but it made you want to cry all the same. You took him by his shoulders, making him lean on you and you softly placed a gentle hand on the back of his head, his surprise making him turn his head to look at you with wide eyes. You eased him into leaning in further, letting him rest his head on your shoulder. Then you spoke, keeping your voice low for fear of your voice cracking.

"That's horrible." you began, suddenly aware that your attempt to keep yourself from crying had you shaking. "He told me everything. He was even thinking of taking you off the shelf. Who knew what was going to happen to you after that! But I chose you anyway."

Levi was tense for a while, but as you spoke, you felt his body relax against you a little at a time.

"Out of all the others and even after hearing about you, I could have picked anyone else...But _you_ were the one I wanted, so I think you're going to have to deal with me for much longer. Don't change for me, I like you just the way you are."

You felt his head settle into the crook of your neck as you muttered, "I won't let anyone else have you. I'm proud to have you as my persocom."

The room settled into a comfortable silence and a moment later you felt him nod against your neck. You smiled, having no doubt in your mind that you made good on your choice of persocom.

Suddenly there was a knock on your door, breaking your nice moment.

"Um, excuse me!" a hesitant male voice floated in through the door. "I heard loud voices, so I wanted to make sure you were okay?"

Neighbors! You almost forgot you had those! Levi carefully pushed off of you and you eased yourself off the floor while saying, "Coming!". Quickly, you straightened yourself up, then opened the door to greet your sudden guest.

You were met with a handsome man who had dark brown hair and dark eyes. He has dark tan skin and is pretty tall, especially compared to you. His hair is parted on the right side and does a little up and over. He wore a white t-shirt and sweatpants as well as a small, gentle smile. A small rosey color rose to your cheeks.

"I'm sorry for troubling you at this hour." he bowed his head slightly and scratched the back of his head as he spoke.

"No, I'm sorry about all the ruckus!" you immediately replied, raising your hands and waving them a little. "We weren't arguing, but it did get out of hand a little. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"Oh, it's no problem at all. It got so quiet all of a sudden, I got a bit worried."

"Real sorry..." you bowed.

"No, no really!" his smile broadened. "You're the new neighbor, right? My name is Hideki Motosuwa."

"Chii..."

"And this is Chii, my persocom!" he added with a small chuckle as he slightly maneuvered so Chii was more easily visible.

"Wow, she's so cute!" you blurted out and you could have sworn you heard Levi smack his forehead from somewhere behind you. You felt his presence ease closer as you shook your head and tried introducing yourself again with a small bow of your head. "And this is my persocom, Levi." You put a tiny emphasis on 'my' and Levi gave a small bow of his head. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you, too!" Hideki returned, still smiling.

"Nice to meet you." Chii repeated, her speech a tad slower as if learning.

Hideki smiled proudly at her and put a hand on her head. She returned his smile with her own.

"Nice to meet you!" A hidden small, high pitched voice called out.

"Oh, right! And this is Sumomo." Hideki said as a tiny persocom emerged from behind Chii's hair.

"Nice to meet you? She's so small! How cute! You have two persocoms?!"

"Oh, she's not mine. I'm holding her for my friend."

"I see. Anyhow, we're both ok. Ah! Would you like to come in?" you suddenly remembered the rest of your manners.

"I would love to, but maybe tomorrow. It's kind of late and I have school..."

"Oh, of course." you smiled, then the word "school" clicked in your mind and you gasped. "School!"

Your sudden outburst startled Hideki, Chii and Sumomo, even Levi jumped ever-so-slightly. You had completely forgotten about school.

"I have to get to bed, too!"

"Then, I'll leave you to it. Have a good night!" Hideki said with a final small bow of his head.

"Have a good night." Chii and Sumomo repeated beside him.

"You, as well!" and you closed the door when he turned and started leaving.

Immediately, you started pulling the small table to a corner of the room as quietly as you can and instructed Levi to get the futon as you did that. You helped him get it ready and wait...

He's going to have to share the futon with you. He doesn't have any sleepwear either, does he? Crap, you didn't think this persocom thing the whole way through! You should have gotten him some sleepwear at the very least! Oh, wait, but you're short on money. It's the whole reason you went job hunting in the first place!

"Oi, idiot, I'm talking to you."

_Did he just call you an idiot?_

"What was that for?" you pouted at him for the insult.

"You kept changing your face and moving around like one, I thought it was fitting." he crossed his arms.

Old habits die hard. You _have_ to work on that.

"It's just...I realized that you don't have anything to sleep in...and that you're probably going to have to share my futon..."

"Where _else_ am I going to sleep?"

Figures he would say that. Ok, you can handle that, but you don't want the poor guy to sleep in the same clothes you got him in. Who knows how long he's had that same shirt and pants on.

"I _might_ have something for you to sleep in..." He's small enough, but you kept that part to yourself.

Levi was silent as you searched in the box that had your clothes, which you haven't unboxed yet. There's got to be _something_ in here. _Ah-ha!_

"Good thing I brought this! If this doesn't fit you, then I don't know _what_ we're going to do. Try these on!"

You passed him a shirt of your brother's that you liked to wear as sleepwear and a pair of one-sized pajama pants with the string in case it needed to be readjusted. You turned for his privacy and turned back around once you didn't hear anymore of his shuffling around.

"Is it too tight?"

"It's fine."

_**Victory**_!

"Well, that settles it! Tomorrow after school, we're going clothes shopping. Although, we might have to go cheap. I don't have a lot of money left, but I do have my grocery money..."

"Don't even think about it." Levi deadpanned when he heard that last mutter.

"Huh?"

"Just go to sleep."

"Alright!" you chuckled as you settled in.

Shortly after, Levi turned off the light and settled in behind you, his back against yours. You felt yourself stiffen.

"...Good night." you almost didn't hear Levi whisper.

"Good night, Levi." you smiled and relaxed, if just a little.

* * *

You awoke to the sun hitting your face. You have _got_ to get your curtains set up. As you moved to get up, your back hit something and you jumped out of your skin, letting out a little yelp.

Oh, right, Levi slept next to you. You're going to have to get used to that. Levi opened his eyes when you got up to get ready for the day. Your internal clock woke you up right on the time you were supposed to, with enough time to get ready and get to your cram school. You quickly washed up and got dressed, while Levi folded your futon and put it away, also putting the small table back in the center of the room as you had it last night.

"I'll come by to pick you up after class, so I can get you some clothes." you spoke to Levi as you put on your shoes. He stood up from the table to stand in front of you at the door.

"Forget about it." Levi deadpanned.

"What? Why? You need better clothes than the ones you have now."

"The money you have is for you to eat. You need the money more than I do. I can make due with what I have."

That's sweet, it seems he's looking out for you. It also looks like he's back to being polite, too.

"That's all right. I have a job now and my first paycheck isn't too far away. Plus, you're acting like I'm going to blow it all off. I know exactly how much I'm going to spend, so don't sweat it." you flashed him a smile, but instead of understanding or nodding his head, he flashed you an irritated glare.

"Are you seriously idiot enough to not understand the words that came out of my mouth?"

You spoke too soon about him going back to being polite.

"_Do not_ spend your grocery money on me. You want to buy me clothes so badly, wait for that paycheck from that dumbass manager."

"But Levi—"

"Get it through that thick skull of yours!" he spoke evenly without raising his voice, but his words had a mean bite to them.

"You're impossible." you pouted at him and sighed. "Fine. I guess I have no choice."

"Good." he crossed his arms across his chest.

"I have work later on. Will you pick me up tonight?"

"Who else is going to do it?"

"Thanks." you smiled at him again. "See you later!"

With that, you closed the door and hurried on your way. Levi sighed to himself, wondering how you managed to get someone like him. Holding it in didn't work, maybe he should work on actually being nicer. He turned around to look at the sorry excuse you called an apartment.

You had your dresser resting against the wall to the right of the sliding door closet and had your small flat screen T.V. sitting on top of it. Some boxes sat in front of the closet door, not having time to put them into the closet.

At least you had it as neat as you could possibly have it. With that thought, he decided to work on emptying those boxes for you to keep himself occupied. If there's something you want in a specific place, he figured you'll just move it yourself.  
~*~  
Seeing your neighbor Motosuwa in your class was a pleasant surprise. You were happy there was _someone_ you knew, since you were nervous about being all alone.

"Motosuwa-san!"

"L/n-san? Hello, I didn't know you were attending here!"

"I need these classes for college." you nodded. "I was planning on enrolling next year. You're a pleasant surprise."

"Yeah, likewise."

"Is this seat taken?" you pointed to the seat in front of him.

"No, go ahead!"

"Thank you."

"Do you have everything settled for classes?"

"I think I do. If I get stuck on anything, would you mind...?" you suddenly got shy, unable to finish your sentence.

"Sure! I don't mind at all!"

You beamed at him, but was interrupted when a female voice rang out in the classroom.

"Alright, everyone!" a pretty woman with black hair stood in front of the class.

Class started promptly, you having to scramble to pull out your English book.

* * *

Levi stood in the balcony, gathering some sunlight to charge himself. He finished organizing and tidying your humble little apartment long ago. He would have started on a meal as well, but since you haven't gone shopping yet, there was nothing to cook. When the jingle for full batteries rang, he walked back inside, closing the glass behind him. Suddenly, he heard your familiar voice faintly float by in the hallway, your voice accompanied by who Levi recognized as the neighbor's voice.

"Thank you so much, Motosuwa-san."

"It's no problem at all. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

"I'll remember that." Levi can see your silhouette as your voice sounded clearly on the other side of the door. "Thanks again."

He stood up to greet you at the door as you opened it. He was greeted by your smile as soon as your eyes landed on him.

"Welcome home."

"Thank you, Levi. Glad to be back..."

You stared at your apartment in surprise.

The boxes disappeared. Your futon was placed neatly against the wall under the window, which now had curtains. Your game system was hooked up to the T.V, laying next to the T.V itself and the controller rested on top of your system. Your mini standing bookshelf stood comfortably near the door way. On the counter near the sink sat your bathroom necessities like your bath soap and toothbrush in a blue, square plastic container you bought to carry your items to the nearest bath house. Which reminds you; you need to locate said bath house. You'll ask Motosuwa later. There also wasn't a speck of dust to be seen.

It's like you walked into someone else's apartment!

"Wow." you breathed out. "You did all this?"

"No. Someone broke into our apartment and did it." Levi sarcastically replied, crossing his arms.

Only the second day living with your persocom and you're already used to his sass and "bad attitude".

"You really are amazing, Levi."

"...You're easily impressed."

Haha, nope! He can't fool you, you saw that! He liked the praise! You giggled at him, a wide smile on your face and you thanked him again while you sat down at your table, setting your bag next to you.

You have some time before work so you decided to work a little on your English studies. You followed the class pretty well, but there were still some words you couldn't get.

"I have got to get a Japanese to English book when I get the chance..." you muttered to yourself.

Levi, who was sitting beside you, looked over your work and quickly found the word you were struggling on.

"Converse, verb: engage in conversation. Noun: conversation."

"Oh!" That's right! You keep momentarily forgetting that Levi is a persocom. "What about this word? "

Every word you pointed to, he translated and you managed to get most of your work down, before it was time to get to your job.

"I'll see you at work, then?" You said after you washed up and changed.

"Take care of yourself." Levi replied.

"I will." you smiled and out the door you went.

* * *

"Nice to see you again, Levi!" Petra beamed at him while he waited for you to get changed.

He bowed his head in silent greeting, but even that simple action had her squealing internally. It was easy to tell she was nearly about to burst.

_Women_. He so badly wanted to roll his eyes, but kept the rude gesture back.

"Levi." you called, finally emerging from the dressing room. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

He stayed silent and nodded, walking with you after you wished everyone a good night. The walk back to your humble little apartment was quiet, but comfortable. Levi's sass wasn't something that bothered you. After his confession, you're relationship has grown closer, it was obvious by his sass. It's what made him special.

And you wouldn't have it any other way.

You were proud to have Levi as your persocom.

Levi walked beside you with confidence, instead of simply following you around like he was doing before. He knows you picked him, but honestly, what were the odds that you picked him up just before the old geezer scrapped him? Sure, you were easily impressed, loud at inappropriate times, a major dork, a fool for putting others before yourself, a kind person, a caring owner...

He wouldn't trade you for the world.

Levi was proud to have you as his owner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm such a sucker for sappy endings! Sue me! XD
> 
> Edit: I was so busy I failed to realize I posted this just in time for Valentine's! Happy Heart Day everyone!
> 
> By the way, the teacher in class was not Takako Shimizu. Hideki is still holding on to Sumomo.
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below!


	6. Eren x Deaf!Reader part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from the wonderful 8-chan in which Reader teaches Eren sign language and he uses it when he's too angry to speak!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hrrrnngg! I'm so sorry for taking so long to write this, my dear 8-chan! I was almost finished with it when I lost it and had to start from scratch.
> 
> I'm so happy that you liked your last request, I was honestly worried you wouldn't like it! I hope you like what I came up with this one, as well!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Excuse any errors!
> 
> A/N: Eren's italic sentences when speaking is sign language.

Eren spent his free days off with you. After a month of being together, he asked you to teach him sign language. In almost another month he learned and memorized the alphabet and learned enough words to get by. He didn't want to keep writing down what he wanted say, he wanted to _really_ talk to you. His determination to learn got him catching on quick. Eren wanting to put in this extra effort, made you fall for him even more. Currently, it was his day off and you were chatting with Eren, enjoying each other's company.

**_"Tell me more about your friend's book. Armin is his name?"_ **

"_Yeah. I'll introduce you to all my friends someday."_

_**"I can't wait."**_ you smiled.

You were legitimately excited about meeting them.

_"The book has descriptions about mountains of sand and a great stretch of salty water call the "ocean"."_

_ **"That sounds amazing. Do you really think this "ocean" is salty?"** _

_"I asked him the same when he first told me about it. He thinks so."_

The world sounded more exciting than you had ever thought. You can only imagine looking upon a great stretch of water or looking below from a mountain of sand.

_**"By the way..."**_ you smiled, signing the correct way to sign Mountain, since he spelled it out.

He watched carefully, then mimicked you, giving you a bright smile when he got it right. You nearly swooned, he's too cute sometimes. You and Eren hung out until early evening, there was a curfew on the time he had to be back by. When he stood to leave, you followed him and surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. His cheeks lit up in a lovely red and you soundlessly giggled at his expression. He returned the kiss to your forehead and spoke out loud, speaking carefully so you can read his lips.

"I'll come by tomorrow."

You nodded happily and watched him go until he was no longer visible.

* * *

Eren couldn't stop thinking about you. The way your smile always put a smile on his face, the way your blush sent warmth spreading in his chest.

He remembered when you steeled yourself to tell him about your first-hand experience of the titans in Shiganshina. It infuriated and astounded him. People _with_ voices couldn't get help in time, yet you, without a voice to call for help, managed to escape and get to safety. He thanked the Goddesses you made it out.

Strong, yet delicate.

He found himself thinking that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if you got hurt, especially if it was at the hands of the titans. He wanted to be there for you, to keep you near, to keep you safe—

"Eren." Mikasa's voice snapped him out of his trace. "Your food will get cold."

That's right, he was eating dinner when he slipped into his thoughts, his spoon hovering above his bowl as if to travel to his mouth, but it never completed its journey. He answered her by softly sighing and continuing to eat. He wondered if you were having dinner. Maybe you already went to bed, it is kind of late...

"Eren." Mikasa called to him again and he shook his head, trying to empty his thoughts.

He just can't focus! He needs to finish eating, so he can get ready for bed. How is he supposed to help rid the world of titans if he can't even focus on dinner?

"Is it Y/n?" Armin asked with a smile.

"I can't stop thinking about her." Eren confessed.

"Eren's got it hard." Sasha teased with a smirk, having overheard the conversation.

Eren pushed his food aside to place his forehead on the table, a hand on the back of his head. He groaned in embarrassment. He can't say anything back because it's true!

"What's the matter, Eren?" Conny joined in, matching Sasha's shit eating smirk with his own. "Can't stop picturing those lips?"

Conny made obnoxiously loud kissy noises his way, making Eren groan again, this time in irrtation. Eren lifted his hand as if admitting defeat, but he brought his hand down as if he was going to bop the back of his own head, but stopped short. Then, he took the same hand, stuck out his index finger and moved his hand in a circular motion, then brought it back down.

A one handed version for the sign 'Leave me alone'.

Eren had you teach it to him to confuse someone when he wanted to be left alone, namely Jean, since he's the one who's more likely than not bothering him. But he saw it fit to use it on Conny and smirked in victory, when he got silent. Eren forced the smirk down, and lifted his head to continue eating.

"What was that?" Conny asked after a moment of silence.

Instead of answering, Eren calmly got up from his table, took his now empty plate and bowl and walked away to take care of them. Armin and Mikasa had no clue what that sign was. Eren had taught them the few words that he knew, but this was a new one. The two childhood friends hurried to gather their dishes after glancing at each other to catch up to him.

"Eren." Armin called, catching up to him and falling into step. "What did you say to him?"

"I told him to leave me alone." he answered, repeating the sign correctly this time, with both hands.

* * *

Eren came down to see you again the next day as he promised, holding your hand as you both walked along the marketplace. It was a little embarrassing, but you were enjoying yourself.

You were head over heels with this young man, but this is what you were afraid of. You were afraid of accepting him as your boyfriend because one day, he might not meet you by your favorite tree like he always did. You might get the dreaded news, the news that he was lost to the war for the cause of humanity.

And now, you can't see yourself without him—Suddenly, you were stopped by a small tug of your hand, then you were looking up at your boyfriend's worried face as he held you by your shoulders and you were reminded of one of the many reasons why you fell for him. Those pretty emerald, green eyes, you could lose yourself in them.

"What's wrong?" he mouthed and you read his lips.

You shook your head and looked away. You didn't mean to worry him.

_"Y/n. I promised you I won't leave you behind."_ he signed.

He knows you so well already, he saw right through you!

Eren promised himself that he will eradicate every single Titan from this planet, not only for his mother, but also for his friends and now for you as well. He knows of your fears, especially because of what happened to your father, but he promised you and he _will not_ break his promise.

He took your hands in his and gave you a quick peck on your forehead for reassurance, before pulling you along once more.

You honestly cannot see yourself without him.

* * *

"Did you see Y/n again today?" Armin questioned him later on in the late evening.

"Yeah."

"How is she doing?"

"She's fine, just worried for me."

Armin nodded in understanding. Titans in and of itself is scary and then you're talking about engaging them in combat. He didn't think he could have a significant other and have them worry for him while he's out. He can't imagine how you feel.

"Will you introduce us to her?" Mikasa spoke up.

"I was thinking about it..." Eren trailed off only to sign the rest of his thought. _"I don't know when."_

"How about next time you visit her." Armin suggested, Mikasa nodding in agreement.

"Yeah. I guess so..."

* * *

_"This is Mikasa." _Eren introduced his adopted sister.

It's been three days since you've seen him and Eren had ultimately decided to bring his childhood friends with him. You spotted him walking toward you with two guests in tow and had stood, practically bouncing in excitement and happily beaming at them.

_"And this is Armin."_

_ **"It's so nice to finally meet you! Oh, you didn't tell me how pretty Mikasa was!"** _

You watched as Eren spoke to his friends, then a soft pink creeped onto Mikasa's cheeks. She lifted her red scarf, trying to hide her embarrassment behind it and you soundlessly giggled. You were pleasantly surprised when the two friends replied to you in sign language, a "Nice to meet you, too.".

You and Eren spent the day hanging out with Mikasa and Armin, chatting about your relationship with Eren, about Armin's book, even about their experiences outside of the walls and the titans. As a Scout, there was only so much they were allowed to tell you, a civilian, but they tried to answer most of your questions with as much info they were permitted to give. You all went for a walk, had lunch together, and evening seemed to roll by quickly. When it was time for them to leave, you said your goodbyes to Eren as you usually did, both of you briefly forgetting his two friends were even there, watching you both give each other bashful affection before he turned to leave. You both blushed when he turned away and you finally remembered they were there, smirking and smiling at the lovey-dovey sight.

_**"Will you come by again?"**_ you asked Mikasa and Armin. _**"Safe and sound?"**_

The two smiled at you. You had a pleasant charm to you that made you feel like you were already part of their inner circle and then you come out with that endearing question. They nodded and Eren added to it further.

_"Of course they will."_ he said._ "We'll all come back in one piece. I promise."_

You smiled, pressing yourself against Eren in a hug and he hugged you back, until a word came to his mind and he wondered how to sign it.

_"By the way..."_ he started after he pulled away and had your attention. He proceeded to sign and speak out loud so his friends could hear, smirking. "How do you sign horse face?"

Horse, face? What? You tilted your head at him in confusion. What an odd choice of words.

"Eren!" Armin chided him.

Nothing good would come out of learning that and Eren's smirk wasn't helping.

* * *

Eren was fuming. What is it with Conny teasing him about his relationship with you?! Sure, Sasha teased him too, but she had admitted that she actually thought it was cute how infatuated he seemed for you and she knew when to stop.

But Conny! Oh, no, he was having too much fun, it seemed! Then, he had the audacity to ask him if it was okay to meet you! Why, so he can tease you, too? The answer is never! Nope!

_"No!"_

"Aw, come on, Eren!"

_"Leave me alone!"_

"I understood that from last time! I promise I'll be nice."

_"I'm busy! Stop talking to me!"_

"Eren!"

The green-eyed Titan shifter had too many things he had to do before the day was over, so he opted to leave Conny behind to move on to the next thing, which Eren found to be to sweep.  
~*~  
"Oi! Wake up, you suicidal bastard!" Jean jabbed the end of the wooden pole of his broom in Eren's side, effectively jerking him awake from staring off into space.

Eren immediately retaliated, using his broom like a sword, out of habit, using his other hand to hold his wounded side.

Jean blocked his retaliation, using the wooden pole of his broom with a smirk.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you, Kirstein?!" Eren angrily grounded out, dipping slightly and still gingerly cradling his side.

"I won't be slowed down by you. If you want to daydream about your girlfriend, do it on your own time!"

"_Hate your horse face so much! Go die!"_ Eren signed, too angry to speak, then walked out of the room to return to his, so he can check for any bruising.

"The fuck? Get back here and use your words, Yeager! Oi!" Eren heard Jean shout after him, but he couldn't find any fucks to give.

* * *

"Kyaa~! She's so cute!" Sasha loudly exclaimed, rushing toward you.

Sasha had politely asked to see you and since she, unlike Conny, knew her manners, he agreed to take her with him along with Mikasa and Armin, since they were excited to see you again.

You, not expecting a brunette girl to rush at you, jumped high out of your skin.

"Sasha!" Eren chided her as Mikasa sat next to you and rubbed your back in an attempt to calm you.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

You, obviously, couldn't hear her, but her body language and apologetic expression suggested that she hadn't meant to startle you.

_"Are you okay?!"_ Eren was quick to check on you, kneeling to properly make sure.

_**"Yes. Yes, I'm fine."**_ you nodded to both him and Mikasa, who nodded back and stopped rubbing your back, but didn't leave your side. _**"I forgive her, Eren. She didn't mean it."**_

"She forgives you. Be more careful next time!"

"Okay, sorry."

_"This is Sasha Blouse. She's easily excitable."_

You giggled at his explanation, then introduced yourself, Eren translating for you since Sasha knew little to no sign language. Since she couldn't sit still, you all decided to take a walk, Sasha happily chatting away, using Eren as translator. The four of you visited a gift shop and food stalls, buying things to eat for lunch later on. Eren recounted the story of how Sasha was known as Potato Girl in their training years and as she protested about telling you that story, you laughed. You all reached your favorite tree again after walking around and decided to sit and relax. Eren pulled out a gift he bought for you while you weren't looking: a pretty, jeweled barrette, the jewel was green and sparkled like his eyes did. You were in awe and, smiling in overjoy. You hugged him happily, but pulled back as if you were burned when he winced and stiffened.

Immediately, your mind went to if he was injured the last time he went out. _And you just hurt him! What if he got stitches and you reopened his wound!_ until he settled you down and lifted his shirt to show you a blossomed bruise with a darker, circular center.

_**"What happened?!"**_ you asked.

"Where did you get _that_ from?" Armin also voice his concern.

"Damn horse face! He stabbed me with the end of his broom! Who does that?!" Eren irritable answered both vocally and in sign.

"You and Jean." Sasha shook her head. "Why can't you just get along?"

"He can go die." Eren muttered bitterly.

You reached out and gingerly traced the bruise, but damn if you wanted to reach out and trace those abs you saw peeking out. You didn't know exactly how fit he really was! Eren huffed trying to stifle a chuckle before you pulled away. That kind of tickled.

_ **"I'm sorry I hurt you."** _

_"It's OK, you didn't know."_

_**"He kind of sounds like a jerk."**_ you said after a moment of pause.

"Kind of?!" Eren exclaimed aloud while signing.

You started laughing at his face. He looked like he caught a whiff of the smelliest turd and regretted it with all his being.

"Oh, it's funny, is it?" he continued.

_**"Your face!"** _you barely signed as you were trying to laugh behind one of your hands.

"My face? What, you mean this face?" Eren made the same face again and you laughed even harder.

Sasha snorted trying not spit out the lunch she was eating early. Armin also chuckled at his face and Mikasa smiled, seemingly keeping her cool. Eren, himself, started laughing when Sasha mimicked his face. When you finally calmed down, Eren gently took your new gift and clipped it onto your hair. It fit perfectly and it accented you beautifully. He gazed at you with adoration and his look made you blush bashfully.

_"I love you."_

_ **"I love you."** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It came out sappy by the end. I couldn't help it! xD
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	7. Shy!Reader part 2 - Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krolina requested a continuation of shy!reader in which 3 year old Reader gets a fever!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your request and I apologize for taking so long with this! My goodness, though, I overdid myself with this one. It turned out to be a whopping almost 9600 words, because I couldn't, for the life of me, stop writing. It was like I went off on a tangent! I finally put a cap on it because I didn't want to keep this request for much longer. I really hope no part of this is boring with how long it is... .-.
> 
> I also wanted to thank Krolina for continuously checking on me. It was sweet, although I'm sure you just wanted to see how far along your request was, haha! I hope you're doing well and keeping yourself safe and healthy!
> 
> I apologize for any mistakes. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> A/N: I have this little vision on how the Commander and his Lieutenants would have an office that also leads to their bedroom.

It's been a week now, since Hange accidentally turned you into a three year old. She had predicted that by the week, you would turn back into the fifteen year old, abled soldier you were before Hange came around, but you had yet to turn back. Much worse, you had started acting a bit strange, which had both Hange _and_ Erwin concerned. Erwin was paying special attention to you since you stuck to him more than you stuck to Hange. Lucky for him, the most he had to do lately was paperwork, since there wasn't any scouting scheduled lately, only mild planning.

Hange had informed him that because you were young and technically still growing, you needed to eat more often than everyone else did. Thankfully, you weren't a big eater as a three year old, so Hange or Erwin would usually take you to get little meals when you were feeling hungry or Hange would feed you a bottle of milk, the bottle she got from Mike, who had picked it up thinking it would come in handy. What's been concerning your stand-in parents the most is your loss in appetite. It wasn't normal to your week long feeding pattern.

You walked hand-in-hand with Erwin to the mess hall to get you a little something to eat, despite the fact that you had told him you weren't hungry when he asked you about lunch prior. It hasn't been too long since you ate, but with your loss in appetite, he wanted to get a little something more into your stomach. Erwin always had to slow his stride because you couldn't keep up with his normal pace, but today you seemed more sluggish than normal. You weren't feeling well, that much was certain, but the last time he and Hange checked you, you weren't ill. Erwin didn't have the slightest idea what was wrong with you.

"Daddy..." you called in a pained tone, walking even slower.

He looked down at you and your complexion seemed paler than usual. He stopped in his tracks and knelt down, putting a hand on your forehead.

...Damn it, damn it all!

Erwin quickly scooped you up and hastened his walk. He has to get some cold water into you.

A fever. How did he not notice sooner? You were usually so cheerful, especially when you were around your inner circle of friends. He suspected something was wrong. He should have been more careful with you!

"Here. Drink." Erwin put a cup filled with water to your mouth and you obediently drank.

The water was so refreshing you went in for seconds after you caught your breath from the first drink. Erwin found a clean rag—which he assumed belonged to Levi, he'll return it sometime later—when he shifted you to hold you like an infant, wet the rag with cold water, wrung it out as best he could with one hand, then placed it on your forehead as he made his way back to his bedroom. It hasn't been too long since you ate and you now had some water, so what you needed was rest.

He lay you on his bed, covering you with a blanket and now you realized that you were feeling cold and tired, so you buried yourself further into the blanket. Erwin sat next you, thinking about what he needs to do to keep your temperature down. He should bring up a bowl with cool water in it. If he wipes you down with cool water, that should help with your fever. You had started to fall asleep as he was thinking, so he waited until you were fully asleep to get up and get everything ready so you wouldn't fuss about him being absent.  
~*~  
"Y/n's sick?!"

"I'm afraid so." Hange responded.

The 104th had noticed you haven't been running around today, like you have been for the past week and they also haven't seen you inside. When they spotted Hange and you weren't with her, they didn't think of it as a big deal since you were more attached to Erwin, but they haven't seen much of the Commander either, so they decided to ask.

"Erwin is taking care of her as we speak." Hange added. "I was just on my way to check up on them."

"May we come with you, Lieutenant?" Mikasa spoke up.

Having become close friends with you in camp, she wanted to check on you. She has never seen you sick, not even that time in camp when everyone seemed to be catching a cold, you had seemed perfectly fine. 

"I'm not sure if the Commander will let you. Let me talk to him and I'll let you know."

A bit saddened, Mikasa nodded and watched Hange go on her way. When Mikasa turned, most of your other friends were behind her, now muttering about how bad they feel to hear you were sick. At least she wasn't the only one worried.

"We should get her gifts. If we don't get to see her, she could at least receive some "get well" gifts." the ever kindhearted Krista had suggested.

"We could go to town tomorrow and pick something out." Sasha added excitedly.

Mikasa let a small smile rest on her lips. She knew you would appreciate that.

Hange knocked on Erwin's door and waited for either him to open the door or for his verbal permission to let herself in.

"How's she feeling?" Hange asked as she closed the door softly behind her after Erwin verbally called her in.

She found Erwin sitting on the bed beside you. Hange has never seen Erwin so worried over one particular person before. 

"She's better. I've made sure to keep her temperature down."

"She ate?"

"A bit. She still doesn't have much of an appetite, but she's drinking well."

"That's good." Hange hummed and found a chair to pull up and sat closer to the bed. "I'm surprised she's in bed and not in your arms."

"She'd be fussy over that if she wasn't sleeping."

Hange chuckled. "I wonder why she clings to you so much."

"I'm not sure of the real reason, but I do have an idea."

Erwin reached over to replace the now warm rag with a face cloth he found earlier. It's been resting in a bowl filled with cool water on the small beside table next to his bed. He wrung it out, folded it, then rested it on your forehead. He put the rag that was on your forehead in the cool water. When the face cloth on your forehead gets warm, he's going to rinse and repeat with the rag.

"After talking with the cadets, I learned that her parents had passed just before she enrolled into the military. They didn't disclose how. I was thinking that she misses them and, perhaps, she was just as close to her father as she's projecting onto me."

"It could be." Hange answered, looking at you.

You were sleeping deeply, and your face looked peaceful. She counted your breathing and was relieved to know that it was normal for your current age.

"If you need to rest, I can watch over her." Hange offered.

As worried as he was, Erwin was feeling a bit fatigued, so he nodded.

"I'll be in my office."

Hange nodded back, taking his spot when he got off the bed. He's been by your side for hours, he deserves a break.

The next day, you had woken up whimpering and crying. You were feeling weak and thirsty and hungry and just all around terrible. Both Erwin and Hange were there for you, showing you TLC as if they were your real parents. They made sure you had something in your stomach and kept you hydrated and Hange gave you a nice lukewarm bath before putting you back in bed. Your fever was kept down and it seemed you were making a slow yet steady recovery, which Erwin was relieved about. For a small child, a fever can be as bad as the common cold, if not, worse. They simply don't have the medicine they need for a fever and that made Erwin very worried, but he and Hange were managing the fever well. You were doing so well in fact that your friends gained permission from the Commander to finally visit you. Erwin sat at his desk, but kept an open ear for any distressed sounds from you. They crowded Erwin's bed and you hid under the blanket.

"Aw! She's hiding!"

"Don't be so loud!"

"We must have crowded her too fast..."

"Y/n." Mikasa kneeled on the side of the bed closest to you and rubbed your side through the blanket. "It's just us."

Slowly, you peeked out of the blanket and her face was the first thing in your line of sight.

"Hi, 'Kasa." you softly greeted, your voice slightly muffled by the blanket and she resisted the urge to pull you into a tight hug. She made a note to give you one when you were back to normal.

"Hey, Y/n." Armin spoke softly, but gained your attention. "We brought you some presents to help you feel better."

"You got pwesents?" you asked, still half hidden.

"We did." Krista spoke up, placing a small box next you. "Here's what I got you."

You slowly sat up, the blanket falling onto your lap, and you took the small box. The lid came off easily and you pulled out a f/c silk ribbon. Your entire face lit up.

"So pwetty!" 

"What do you say?" Erwin's voice floated into the room and your friends looked to the doorway to find him leaning on it.

"Thank you, Kwista!"

As the days turned into a week, you had started referring to everyone in the old way you used to before your transformation. It seemed that your memory slowly returned, but it would only be certain things. Perhaps your three year old mind was protecting itself from the horror that were titans as nothing about them had surfaced to your mind, save for the fact that every once in while you would wake up from a nightmare, crying about how a monster was trying to get everyone, including you. Erwin and Hange deduced that your mind was indeed trying to protect itself. For now, they thought it was for the best.

"Look, Daddy!" you held out the ribbon towards him, so he walked over to you to get a closer look.

"That's very nice." he responded and looked at Krista to thank her.

"It was no problem, Sir. It was fun shopping for her."

Your friends gave you their gifts one by one and you thanked each of them, some with a reminder from Erwin when you got too excited about the gift itself to thank the person who gave it to you.

Armin gave you a children's book for your current age. Holding the book in front of you, he very slowly read the title out loud, which you mimicked and everyone practically melted. You just about wanted to read it then and there, but Erwin turned your attention back to your friends.

Conny remembered you absolutely loved sugar candies. They were small, multi-colored star shaped candies made of sugar and you couldn't get enough of them before. He found some and had bought a small bag filled with them. Since you were still not at one hundred percent, Erwin took them for you to give to you when you got well.

Jean got you a stuffed toy bear that was almost as big as you. As far as Jean could tell, it was very rare to find a bear that big, but when he saw it, all he could think about was how big that smile of yours would be when you saw it. To him, it wasn't very big—although it was the biggest one he had the fortune of finding—but compared to you, it was huge since as a three year old, you were pretty small. When he presented it to you, the smile on your face was the biggest, brightest smile he had ever seen on you, he found himself smiling with you. As soon as you had it in your arms, you hugged it as hard as you could and you would not let it go. As far as you were concerned, that was the last of the gifts. _It was the best one so far, so that must have been the end of it, right?_ Although, there were more gifts, you had decided the bear won, so Erwin took the liberty to gather the gifts you hadn't yet looked at, so he can give them to you later when the bear had lost a little bit of your attention.

Some of the left out cadets pouted at Jean for stealing all of the spotlight while he smirked and walked taller, proud of himself. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that Erwin would make sure you would get their gifts and you were feeling better because of the items you _did_ see.

In all the commotion, Erwin nearly forgot that he had a meeting to go to and if he didn't leave soon, he will be late. He had to think. Besides Hange, who will you be the most comfortable spending an extended amount of time with?

Hange was buried up to her chest with the work she had been neglecting in favor of taking care of you. He can't let any of the cadets take care of you, they're too young, they have other responsibilities they need to attend to and he knows it will be difficult to juggle you and their duties, especially with how ill and extra clingy you were. He can easily give you to Mike or even Petra, as the red head had expressed she would be happy to help in any way she could, but he remembered how you hid from her every chance you got. Erwin was sure that if he gave you to Petra, she would be an excellent caregiver, even Mike would be good to you, but he was sure that if you got upset and wanted your "Daddy", you would get yourself so worked up, your fever would probably spike up again, even with Hange's help.

"You want me to what?" Levi narrowed his eyes at his Commander as if he just accused him of being filthy.

Erwin had called him to his office after he remembered that you had no problem with Levi being around, even on the first day.

"I believe you are the only one, besides Hange, that can care for Y/n and can make sure she won't overwork herself worrying about where I am."

"Are you hearing yourself? Had she not been glued to your side since day one? She'll worry about where you are regardless who has her. What the hell do I have that the others don't?"

"Well, I thought as "the strongest knight" you would be able to handle anything."

Levi glared at him and crossed his arms. "A child's nickname is not enough to tie me to the job, Erwin."

"Levi, you are the only one she answers to without complaint and without hesitation, besides Hange and I."

"Really? What the hell was that reaction to me on that first day?"

"You opened the doors so hard, they hit the wall, the sound startled her. I remember it didn't take much for you to get her to answer to you."

Levi scowled. He's right, he knows he is, but damn it, Levi _does not_ want to spend all his time for the foreseeable future taking care of a toddler who wasn't supposed to be a toddler! You were _supposed_ to be with the other cadet brats! What the fuck was Hange doing anyway? Wasn't she supposed to fix this mess she's made?!

"Fine." Levi finally grounded out after a moment of irritated silence. "She's sick, right? What does the brat have?"

Erwin chose to ignore the "brat" comment. "She has a fever. You know as well as I do that a fever in a small child is not to be taken lightly."

Levi sighed. Why did you have to have the most burdensome symptom?

"We managed to keep the fever down, so she's stable for now, but we still need to be careful." Erwin continued to explain as he started to gather the rest of what he needed for this meeting.

Levi rose an eyebrow. "Are you sure _you're _not the mother?" Then, he quickly headed for the bedroom after he thought he heard a whimper.

Erwin paused. He does sound like a mother, doesn't he? He doesn't believe he's ever been this thorough with one of his underlings. Then again, he's never had someone cling to him like you do. You've spent seventy percent of your time with him for the past week and frankly, he's started to find himself out of place when you weren't with him.

He can't; he can't get used to this. Sure, you're two days late of your supposed day of turning back, but eventually, you _will_ turn back to your fifteen year old self. Then, "Daddy Erwin" will have to disappear forever and he will have to treat you like he treats everybody else, just like he used to.

......

If he didn't know any better, he would think that the thought bothered him.

"I'll be back in a day." he called out to Levi.

"Leave already." Levi appeared at the bedroom doorway. "Before she wakes up."

"I'll inform Hange on my way out."

"Don't you worry, "Mother", I'll keep your little chick safe." Levi disappeared back into the room before Erwin can turn around and shoot him a dirty look.  
~*~  
"I have to leave. I've left Y/n in Levi's care in case you're too busy." Erwin poked his head into Hange's study room and with luck, found her there, bend over a couple of research materials.

"Levi?" Hange looked at him in surprise.

"She doesn't have a problem with him."

"Ah." Hange had also seen how you usually shy away from people, but Levi seemed to be one of the only exceptions. "Have a good day, Erwin~" she called after him as he turned to leave.  
~*~  
Hange poked her head into Erwin's bedroom about an hour later and saw you sleeping with your new teddy and Levi sat near you, reading and sipping on what she assumed to be tea. Levi looked at her, having sensed someone creeping up behind him and Hange smiled at him, quietly making her way into the room. Hange went over and put a hand on your forehead, then let out a soft sigh.

"She still feels a little warm, but she seems fine otherwise. Did she wake up at all?" Hange asked in a soft voice as to not wake you up.

"She was thirsty." Levi nodded. "She went right back to sleep after having some water."

"Poor dear..." Hange cooed and reached over to pull the thin blanket higher up on your tiny body.

Hange then informed Levi that she was going to get you some soup to eat before leaving the room. She returned after ten minutes, letting Levi step away from you to do whatever it was he wanted or needed to do. Hange woke you up to eat—which you protested and cried weakly about. Afterwards, she had you use the bathroom and you wanted another drink of water before she sent you back to bed. She checked your temperature one last time before she called Levi back, so she could return to her work.

Levi wished he had asked about lights out. Your stand-in parents are very worried about you and as your superior, so was he. He assumed your stand-in parents wanted him to keep an eye on you throughout the night as well, but he wasn't really inclined to sleep on the wooden chair he had next to the bed. Would it be OK if he slept next to you? After giving it a couple of seconds of thought, he decided against it. However, after almost falling over while dozing off, he abandoned that decision and carefully slipped onto the bed, trying to not wake you. He didn't bother going under the covers with you and just lay on his side facing you and fell asleep. The short man awoke to you seemingly having a nightmare. You tossed around a bit and the lieutenant felt bad for you. Perhaps rubbing your tummy will calm you, even if just a little? It seemed to calm you enough to keep you from tossing, but you instead starting muttering in your sleep. Levi continued to soothingly rub your tummy slowly, even as he started to doze off, but was half awakened when you muttered a pained, "Mommy..." He didn't respond and decided to wait. Perhaps that was all?

"Daddy...?" Levi heard another mutter. "Don't...die..."

Levi perked up to that, awake enough to pull you to him, gently pressing you against his chest.

Losing a loved one is never easy, but learning that a three year old—even if you were actually a fifteen year old—was having a nightmare about losing her parents, pulled at Levi's heartstrings. He was glad he was here with you while you went through it and that he could, at the very least, offer you moral support. After holding you against him, you seemed to finally settle down. Before going back to sleep, he checked your temperature, but didn't like what he felt, so he reached over to pull the wet face cloth out of the small basin of cool water, tried his best to wring it out without waking you (which he was convinced he didn't do a good enough job, since the cloth was still a little more than damp) and placed the haphazardly folded face cloth on your forehead. He thought having you against him while you had a fever was most probably not a good idea, so now that you had calmed down from your nightmare, he put some distance between you again and tried going back to sleep. Usually, he hated being a light sleeper, but in this case he was able to help you.

Hange showed up in the wee hours of the morning to find Levi laying next to you with a hand on your tummy. She tried her hardest not to squee at the cute sight and instead burned the image into her mind. That was just about his equivalent to hugging you in his sleep. Then, she quickly checked your temperature, felt that the fever was still present, but still under control and smiled. She softly called Levi and his eyes sleepily fluttered open. She told him that she can take over now, so he got out of bed and headed to his room. Hange took his place and ended up dozing off.

Hange woke up to your whine, as you woke up to discomfort. This is a huge concern, now that she has time to think about it. Why did you _still_ have a fever? Were you simply suffering through a child illness or was your body perhaps trying to turn back? The only way she can find out is by some simple hands-on. She let you have some water, then carried you to the bathroom, had you use it and then gave you a bath with lukewarm water. After that, she called Levi once again, so she can step away to make you soup, since you seemed to enjoy it last time, plus it's good for your weakened stomach.

You didn't seem to weigh more nor did you seem to be taller. No signs of transforming back, meaning you have a child illness, which means you're worse than she originally thought. She would have much rather preferred you be on your way to going back to normal. At least then you would have gotten better when it was over...

"Hello, Knight Levi." you greeted him to fill the silence that settled when Hange left, squeezing your new teddy to your chest.

"What happened to "Sir"?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Sirw Knight, Levi." you responded.

_Good enough_, Levi mentally shrugged. Silence momentarily settled in once more when you broke it again.

"Whewe is Daddy?"

_There's_ the golden question.

"He's on an important job."

"When is he coming back?"

"Tomorrow."

"Oh." Another moment of silence. "Whewe did Mommy go?"

"Shi—" Levi stopped himself short, he almost referred to Hange by the very "affectionate" nickname he gave her. "_Mommy_ is getting you food."

"Okay."

Silence settled in once again. _Good talk_, Levi almost sighed. He remembered Erwin mentioned how quickly you can pick up irritated or worried signs. He didn't want you thinking he was worried about something, even if he was worried about everything, but that's besides the point. At least you're eating. It's a good sign, you're on the smooth road to recovery.

"Why do the monstews want to huwt us so badly?" you suddenly asked.

The monsters? Were you thinking about the titans? It made sense, he guessed. If you were having nightmares about your parents, it was only logical that you may have had nightmares about titans as well.

"They're monsters. That's what they do." he gave you a moment to soak that information in, before he continued to speak. "Do you dream about the monsters?"

"Sometimes." you nodded, playing with one of your teddy's arms.

He thought so.

"You're safe here."

"'Cause you'we pwotecting the castle." you nodded again.

Goddesses bless this child.

After another moment, Hange returned with your hot soup, sat next to you and started feeding you. Levi stayed seated, reading a book he brought with him for quiet moments like these. 

"Your friends want to see you." Hange spoke as she was feeding you the last couple of spoons. "Would you like them to visit?"

"Yeah! I want to see Sniffy, too." you responded with a big smile.

"Aw, sweety~" Hange cooed, with a giggle. You _have_ been having little conversations with him here and there and you got along pretty well. It seems you grew a little bond with him. Unfortunately, Mike had accompanied Erwin to the meeting, so hopefully you'll be happy with just your friends.

Levi silently stood up, gave Hange a look that said "I'll get them" and then left the room. Hange smiled after him. He, too, seemed to enjoy keeping you company, even if he wants to deny it. He came back quickly with your friends trailing excitedly behind him and you shied away a bit. Hange mentally shook her head as she chuckled. You said you wanted to see them, what were you getting so bashful for? Mikasa sat down beside you with a small smile.

"'Kasa." you acknowledged her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm full."

Huh? Perhaps you misunderstood her question?

"Y/n just finished eating." Hange explained with a smile and a ghost of a laugh in her voice and there were scattered chuckles among your friends.

"That's good." Mikasa spoke up again with a small smile, placing a hand on your small one.

You felt a little warm, but not enough to cause concern, she noticed, her shoulders losing their bit of tension. This might pass faster than everyone thinks if your health keeps this up. At some point, you wanted Hange to hold you and once she did, you weren't letting go for anything. Although she doesn't have any children of her own, she knew and heard enough stories of how particularly clingy small children are when they're sick. In your case, you're always clingy, but not to her, so this is taken into consideration. Hange has a feeling she won't be escaping you for a time, but she still has work to do. She's so close to finishing! 

Now that the excitement of seeing your friends wore out, fatigue caught up to you and Levi ushered your friends out of the room. They quickly said their goodbyes and get-well-soons and headed out. Hange gave Levi a look as you started to fall asleep on her.

_I have work to finish!_ She stared at him.

_That's too damn bad._ He stared back.

Hange sighed, thinking the short Lieutenant was going to let her handle you and up and leave the room to attend to his own responsibilities, but he stayed with her, waiting for you to fall asleep. Then, he came up and gently picked you up, holding you instead. You whined; protesting, then clung to him, pushing your face into the crook of his neck. That seemed to be your favorite thing to do when you clung to anyone.

Levi smelled faintly of soap and black tea. You became sad. This wasn't what your daddy smelled like at all! Levi said he would be here today, where was he?!

"Y/n." Levi called softly, sensing your mood suddenly drop. "What is it?"

"Daddy..." you whined.

Shit. Levi knew this moment would come. This is when you'll probably start to stress at the fact that "Daddy Erwin" isn't with you.

"He'll be here soon." Levi replied.

He knew the Commander was most likely on his way, maybe even almost here by now, so at this point, it might be safer for you to let Hange hold you after all. There's only so much "the strongest knight" can do; "Mommy", however, will most probably be able to calm you down the most. Before she even had a chance to stand up, Levi shot her a warning stare.

_Don't you dare leave this room._

Hange wanted to slam her head against the wall. The longer she waits, the more work she has to finish!

The only good thing here is regardless of the fact that you're fussy, you couldn't keep your eyes open. When it seemed like you were sound asleep, Hange shot him a look that said, _'I'll be right back.'_

_'You better.'_

Levi thought he might as well get comfortable since he knew that you will most probably wake up and fuss if he tried to put you down. This was probably not ideal for your fever, but he doesn't seem to have a choice on the matter. He sat down and leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the night stand, then he shifted you slightly, so you weren't literally breathing down his neck and put an arm around you. If you shifted, you wouldn't fall.

Levi woke up to the bedroom door opening. He doesn't remember falling asleep, but it explains why his body felt a bit stiff. He looked up and found Erwin looking at him.

"About time." Levi lightly scowled at him and put a hand on your back while he shifted himself to sitting position.

"How was she?" the Commander asked softly to not wake you.

"Fine, for the most part. She started calling for you earlier today."

"Good." Erwin replied, picking you up when you started whining.

You shifted your face into the crook of his neck, something that he didn't know he missed until he felt you do it.

_Missed?_ He internally scolded himself. This is temporary, stop getting attached!

"Erwin." Levi called, staring at him. "She won't be three for much longer."

Levi must have noticed his inner conflict with himself. He often forgets how perceptive he is. When you think he's not looking, Levi has already analyzed the whole picture.

Your fever was still present, judging by how warm your face felt against this neck, but it was still, thankfully, under control.

Erwin simply nodded as a response to Levi, then placed you on his bed and pulled the covers over you. Hopefully, you'll feel much better tomorrow.

* * *

An almost frantic knock rapped on Hange's door. The noise snapped her out of her thinking spell and as the knocking continued, she stood from her seat to get the door. As she was about to grip the door handle, it opened rather rough and Hange let out a sound of surprise as her name was called with a sense of urgency. Erwin looked at her, a look of worry on his face and a bundle wrapped in a blanket in his arms. Before she could utter his name, Erwin interrupted her with a simple sentence.

"She's gotten worse."

Instantly, Hange put two and two together, quickly gesturing to her bedroom. She was quick in taking you and unraveling you from the blanket.

"She's unresponsive. What should we do?" Erwin asked.

"We can't stick her in a bath to cool her down, I'll have to wipe her down. I'll need cold water and towels."

Erwin didn't even respond, he was out of the door as soon as she finished her sentence and he was back as quick as humanly possible. Hange ushered him out of her room when he gave her what she asked for, telling him that if she needs anything else, she'll call for him. She expects him to stay out of the room while she works? You were already in this state when he woke up, what if he didn't get to Hange in time? And if he did, what if Hange can't bring down your fever? He'll be damned if he let you go after a week and four days of taking care of you like you were his own. However, Hange had already kicked him out and started working with you. She put towels under you, undressed you and started wiping you down with a cold wash cloth and just like Erwin said, you didn't even flinch.

Erwin was unsure for how long he waited for, but he thought he couldn't wait there any longer when he caught himself a couple of steps mid-pace. He gently knocked on Hange's bedroom door.

"I will be in my office if you need anything."

He waited for any kind of response and when he heard a soft 'Alright', he left the room. He can't stay there. He needed _something_ to distract him and he thought a bit of work was what he was looking for.

"Hey."

Erwin was a couple of pages away from finishing a pile of paperwork that had accumulated while he was busy taking care of you when Levi walked into his office without even knocking.

"The door was closed." was Erwin's response, code for: Knock.

"And now it's open." one of Erwin's eyebrows twitched. "Your little chick's awake and she's asking for you. Get your ass up and go see her."

Levi didn't even wait for him and left as quick as he entered. Erwin stood faster than he should have, but the thought was gone as fast as it flashed through his mind as he made his way out of his office and to Hange's. When he got there, he gently knocked on Hange' s open bedroom door, quickly catching Hange's attention. She smiled softly, motioning him closer.

"Daddy." you whined, when he came close enough.

Erwin sat down next to you, knowing by the tone of your whine that you wanted him to hold you.

"Her fever broke." Hange happily said, while wiping your forehead with the damp face cloth she was holding. "She's still a little warm, but she should be better in no time."

You slightly pulled on the sleeve of his shirt, so he finally reached over and pulled you into his lap, you happily burying your face into the fabric of his shirt. He shared a look with Hange as he regretted picking you up. You were most probably not going to let him go anytime soon.

"Are you hungry, Y/n?" Hange asked and you nodded your head.

"Hungwy." you repeated.

Thank the Goddesses your appetite seemed to be back at full force. Hange smiled, stood and left the room to grab you a bite to eat. Levi entered the room after she left and sat down in the now empty seat, glancing at you.

"How is she?"

"Her fever's broken. I've made the mistake of holding her."

"You either have no self-restraint or you're spoiling her."

"I'm afraid both might be the right answer."

Levi shook his head in disapproval. Why is Erwin doing this? He knows not to get attached. It didn't take long for Hange to return with soup for your weakened stomach and you happily ate without leaving Erwin's lap. Before Levi left the room, he informed his Commander that he'll be turning in early. He did not get the uninterrupted sleep he was supposed to get and it was affecting him in the worst ways. Erwin approved and Levi left to finish a little something before he turned in when evening rolled around. You finally left his lap when Hange quickly scooped you without giving you a chance to cling. You let out a whine that had Erwin's fingers itching, almost getting him to pluck you out of Hange's grasp.

"Bath time." Hange cooed. You were slightly sweaty and she was sure that giving you a nice, warm bath will get you feeling better in no time.

"I'm returning to my office." Erwin said, moving to stand a bit awkwardly. He was at a lose as to why he felt awkward in the first place.

Hange nodded, taking you away before you decided you _really_ didn't want to go. You waved at Erwin from over Hange's shoulder and the Commander couldn't help but smile at you. Thank the Goddesses that fever mess was finally over.

Full and clean, you didn't want to spend anymore time away from your stand-in Daddy, so as soon as you were dressed, you practically pulled Hange all the way to Erwin's office. You were at his side as soon as the door was open. Erwin had just finished the last of his documents and had let out a long, relieved sigh right before the door was opened after a knock. He suppressed another sigh. At least you were your old, bubbly self again.

"Daddy!" you happily greeted. He put a hand on your head, your smile growing just from the contact.

"Well, I'm off!" Hange all but said, but was stopped short with a call of her name.

"Thank you." Erwin genuinely expressed.

"Of course, Sir." Hange smiled at him.

You were a bit sluggish, as expected from laying in bed for four days. You seemed elated to be out and about, but you didn't have much energy and you refused to be in bed when Erwin tried to lay you down. He didn't learn his lesson from last time and picked you up to attempt to put you in bed, but you were clinging once again.

"No bed." you whined.

"Y/n." Erwin was exasperated.

What was he supposed to do with you now?

He thought about laying down with you, but he's busy. There are things he needs to do around the castle that he's been overlooking in favor of you. So, his only option is to take you with him. Once you end up falling asleep—because he _knows_ you will—he'll put you to rest comfortably, so he can work in peace, without having to work around you.

It was such a relief to see the Commander walking around you. It meant you were well enough to be out of the room, possibly even rid of your fever. The blonde man seemed busy, so your friends didn't approach him for fear of interrupting him, but after being stared at, he eventually approached them, telling them that your fever was broken and that you'll be running around again in no time. They had to celebrate quietly, because just like he predicted, you fell asleep, your head resting on his shoulder. He quickly returned to his room, lay you on his bed and went on his busy way. He'll deal with your fussiness when he's finished.

* * *

Erwin awoke in the middle of night. Strangely enough, he didn't feel like anything woke him up, so he couldn't figure out why he awoke so early when he was feeling plenty fatigued just a few hours earlier. He searched for you in the darkness of his room, extending his arm and reaching for you. He stalled his search when he found you, but his eyebrows furrowed as you felt strangely different. He sat up to attempt to look at you properly, the dim moonlight pouring through the windows of his room offering slight assistance for his eyes. You seemed bigger? His half asleep brain was slow to process what his eyes were telling him, but when it finally registered, he took a minute to think before moving into action. It's only been a few hours and you seemed to be around five years old now. If you are to keep this steady growth, you'll probably be stunted by those tiny clothes you're wearing.

He stood from his bed and proceeded to rid you of your three year old clothes in the darkness, noticing that your clothes were already very tight on you which only further proved his stunting theory. You whined at him, a plea to stop waking you, but he quietly settled you, trying to work quickly so you can go back to your deep slumber. He made sure to afterward keep the blanket over you, you will have to sleep naked. If your growth stopped by the morning, then he at least avoided you extreme discomfort. If you were going to be back to your original age by morning, then he can't be caught in the same bed as you, no matter the circumstances. _Especially _with you naked. So, he took out an extra blanket he uses for cold weather and left the room, turning the door knob to silently close the door behind him. He'll sleep on the couch in his office.

Erwin checked on you once he woke up again in the morning and noticed that you had grown to just about to your original age. He can tell that you weren't quite there yet, probably missing a couple of years off fifteen. He usually wakes up before some of his lieutenants—save for Hange and sometimes Levi, who were natural early birds—and before the cadets, so you have plenty of time to grow to your original age between now, while he goes about his morning routine to when the cadets go about their morning routines.

"She's growing." he told Hange when she visited about an hour later.

Excitedly, she peeked into his room and sure enough. She was a bit disappointed in a sense. She rather enjoyed being called a mommy and taking care of you and vaguely hoped that if she has a child, that child will be just like you; adorable and well behaved. Knowing her luck, her child will probably be hyperactive, but she could see Erwin really having a child like you. He seemed like the type to have a calm child. Erwin neither agreed nor disagreed and asked her if she was finished with all her work. It's just like him to change the subject, she laughed, then told him that she'll be back later to leave you some clothes before excusing herself and leaving the Commander's office.  
~*~  
You awoke suddenly, now at your original age, feeling like you've experienced the weirdest dream. Sluggishly, you slowly took in your surroundings and recognized this to be the room of a father figure's. You sat up and stood carefully, quickly spotting some clothes folded neatly on a wooden chair near the bed. Curiously, you looked down.

_Why am I naked?_

You picked up the folded clothes, finding that they were your clothes, even finding some underwear. You got dressed, but feeling a little chilly, you grabbed the thin blanket from the bed and draped it around yourself before reaching for the door.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

You froze. _That's_ not your father. You spoke without thinking and now you and your Commander stared at each other in awkward silence. You hoped to the Goddesses that the floor would open up somehow and just swallow you whole.

The Commander hadn't expected he'd answer to that. Having learned to at least respond to it for the past week and a half, it just kind of happened. Now, he stared at one of his cadets in stunned silence, until your face suddenly flushed red.

You abruptly saluted your Commander, effectively startling him out of his stunned state. "I'm so sorry, Sir!!" you threw your head back, not wanting to look at him as you vibrated in nervousness and embarrassment.

"Y/n." he called your attention after a moment and you slowly looked at him, a bit confused that he didn't call you by your last name as he usually does. "At ease." he paused, as you released your salute. "You dropped the blanket."

"Huh?"

Not expecting him to say that, it threw you for a loop until you looked down. You jumped upon seeing it, quickly bending to scoop it up, but then you merely stood there, not sure if you should enter the Commander's room to return it, even if you just emerged from said room. With a small eyebrow raise and a flick of his hand, you startled, jumping once again with a small noise and disappeared into the room to return it. It's not like you needed it anymore, anyway, you felt plenty warm. You all but threw it on his bed, then quickly exited the room and closed it behind you out of habit. When you didn't move, he called out to you once again, motioning to the wooden chair in front of his desk.

Still emanating embarrassment, you moved away from his bedroom door and sat in the motioned chair. You sat there and watched him work on what seemed to be a new document for twenty minutes in what you perceived to be deafening silence, until you started to sweat. Was he not going to address the elephant in the room? Were you in trouble? Is he just going to work? Why wasn't he saying anything? You shifted uncomfortably in your seat.

"D—S-Sir?"

You very narrowly called him Dad again, your face flushed once more. He hummed, not even taking his eyes off of the document.

"Uh..."

You didn't know what to say next. You had a bunch of questions, but you didn't know how to present it to him without sounding desperate.

"Just a moment." he said.

Perhaps he wanted to finish his work? After he left you to your thoughts for another five minutes, he finally put his pen down and stared at you. You stared back, nervously playing with your finger nails.

"What is the last thing you remember?"

Confused, you searched your thoughts. "Lieutenant Hange asked for my assistance with an experiment."

"Tell me what you remember following that."

"Ah..." you rubbed the back of your neck as you thought. "She had me drink this strange liquid. I remember feeling strange and kind of drowsy. I guess I fell asleep after that."

"Do you remember anything after that?"

"After that...After that, I..."

_Your mother was holding you in a blanket and your father was standing behind a desk like the one in front you. You were scared because you didn't know where you were, then the door slammed open..._

"My mother and father..."

Your mother and father would have no reason to be in an office like this one...You looked at your Commander for a moment as the pieces in your head started falling into place. Erwin exhaled from his nose. You don't remember. He's going to have another talk with Hange about experimenting on his soldiers. He looked to see your face once again flushed and your eyes watery. Perhaps you remembered something?

"Y/n."

"I thought you were my Dad..."

You did remember. Or perhaps you put two and two together somehow.

"Tell me about him."

You seemed to hesitate, but you soon started to speak as you lowered your head. "He was blonde and had blue eyes. He was a proud man, very prideful of his work and he believed in sacrifice to achieve. He was strong, but he was gentle. He was a very serious man and he was a great father. I couldn't have asked for anyone better..." your voice cracked, so you stopped talking for fear of crying.

He now understood. It seemed like Erwin and your father shared enough qualities that you projected everything your father was onto him. With that information, he can only assume your mother must have been an intelligent, energetic person filled with compassion for you to project her onto Hange. Erwin nodded, going through a drawer at his desk and he walked around, placing a hand on your shoulder. You startled once again, looking up at him. In his hand, he held a small cloth bag, which he held out for you. You held your hand out, so he placed the bag in your hand.

"This is a bag of sweets a friend of yours picked out for you. You weren't feeling well at the time, so I put it away for you."

"Th-Thank you, Sir." you sniffed.

Erwin motioned to follow him, so you stood up and trailed beside him as he walked. To feel less awkward, you opened your little bag and found sugar candies, your favorite treat. Placing one in your mouth, you barely held yourself back from humming happily.

"Sir?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for taking care of me."

"You chose me. I didn't have much of a choice in the matter."

The fact he said that with such a straight face, made you want to laugh. You held a snicker behind your hand.

"My apologies, Sir." you said as he raised an eyebrow. "This is going to seem strange, but can you hold your hand out for me?"

That was certainly a strange request, but he did it anyway with curious confusion in his eyes. You placed a small handful of sugar candies on his palm. He gave you a blank expression.

"They're good." you smiled, almost snickering at his expression again.

You plopped another one in your mouth before sealing the bag again and he tentatively did the same. Yup, that's sweet. They're not half bad. Your smile widened at his expression, then you looked away and found yourself at Hange's office. Hange looked up from her work when she heard footsteps, her facing lighting up when her eyes landed on you.

"Y/n!" she cried happily, practically running up to you and grabbed your hands to hold. "Let Mommy look at you!"

You smiled at her antics, also feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Hi...Mom." you replied with a blush.

Hange couldn't help but squee at you. She pulled you into a tight hug, a wide smile on her face.

"They grow up so fast! Don't they, Erwin?" Hange continued as she laughed a little and you couldn't help but laugh yourself.

Erwin sighed. Hange's ridiculous...

"I want you to check her before I take her to the infirmary wing."

"I have to go to the infirmary?" you asked as Hange led you to a wooden chair and she sat in another chair in front of you.

"Daddy just wants to make sure you're completely fine, sweety." Hange responded.

"Stop that." Erwin sighed once more.

Hange laughed and you joined her. Erwin was almost inclined to leave. Hange checked your movements and reactions before deeming you OK. She gave you another hug and you shared a small handful of sugar candies as thanks for taking care of you, before Erwin led you out and headed for the infirmary. Hange practically glowed in happiness. At the infirmary, they also gave you the OK to go back to your life as a cadet after a couple of tests. With that, Erwin was confident enough to let you go back to your friends, parting ways with you to get back to other matters.

As soon as Mikasa spotted you, she pulled you into an embrace, thankful that you were alright. Your friends took turns giving you a hug, which you immediately returned. You found your reversed roll a bit funny, you were usually the one giving out hugs. You picked up from where your friends left off, but since they were already paired for training, you decided to save your strength and sit this one out. After, Levi had called the cadets for a roundup. Upon seeing you among them, he stared, approached you, then put a hand on your head.

"Welcome back, little chick."

_Little chick?_

"Proud to be back, Sir Knight." you replied with a soft blush on your cheeks and a smile.

"Smart ass." he scoffed, flicking your forehead lightly, before promptly getting on with business as usual.

* * *

You startled awake from a nightmare. Sitting up, a cold chill ran up your spine and you shivered, noticing you had a cold sweat clinging to your body. Half awake, you got up from your bed and traveled to the Commander's office. You chided yourself, under your breath. There's no way he'd be awake, it's the middle of the night, but just the thought of the possibility that he'd be up spurred you to lift your hand and lightly knock. You waited and listened, hearing nothing but silence. Of course; you don't know what you were expecting. You thought you should go back to your room, when the door opened.

You stared surprisingly at the disheveled blonde man. His hair was down and slightly messy, his shirt was untucked and unbuttoned lazily at the top and he wore pajama pants.

Crap. Did you wake him up? You don't even know what you were doing here. You should just apologize and go back—

"Did you have a nightmare?" he asked, speaking softly.

Surprised that he guessed right, you nodded slowly. He paused for a moment, before moving aside and signaling to come on in. Surprised yet again, you took a second to move and hurried in when he raised an eyebrow. He closed the door behind you when you entered. You followed him to his desk, watching him walk past his desk to a small table with a tea set under one of his windows. He poured a cup and handed the cup to you.

"Drink." he still spoke softly. "This tea is good for calming the body."

The drink was hot and smelled good, sweet like apples. He must have made it not too long ago. You took a sip and instantly started to feel better, a small smile playing on your lips. You remembered your mother used to make you this tea, Chamomile, when you had a hard time sleeping as a child.

Looking up, you saw Erwin with his own cup, gazing out the window, his expression solemn. It looked almost sad.

"Thank you." you found yourself whispering.

You had to say something to shift his attention, maybe that will make his expression change. He turned his head to look at you.

"For the tea." you finished in a soft voice.

He merely nodded and you could have sworn his expression softened.

"Take your time." he replied.

"Aren't you tired?" you inquired. You were still pretty tired yourself and you still felt as if you woke him up. You still aren't sure why you walked here fresh out of a nightmare in the first place.

"Very. But, I'm having trouble falling asleep."

"I didn't wake you, did I...?"

"No. I was making tea."

"R-Right..." Now you felt silly.

Silence settled between you two, serene and comfortable. Now that he eased your doubt, you felt completely at ease, a soft sigh leaving your lips after another sip from your cup. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was your father for a time, even if for a little while and his presence was a comfort thing for you now.

That could be it.

"Y/n." Erwin's voice was sharp in the silence and it made you jump.

"Yes, Sir?"

"No need to be so formal." he said with a ghost of a chuckle in his tone.

"O-Oh?"

"How are you feeling?"

"M-Much better now."

"Good."

A moment of silence passed as you took a long sip of your tea, now noticing you were just about finished. You thought perhaps you should head to your room now that you were feeling relaxed and your drowsiness was starting to hit you hard. You downed the rest of your tea, walking up to your Commander to return the cup.

"Thank you again for the tea."

"It was no problem." he paused, then spoke again. "If you have another nightmare, feel free to visit."

You looked at him in pleasant surprise, then smiled.

"Ok. I will."

You headed toward the door and put a hand on the handle, then you paused, thinking, "Ah, what the hell?".

Once more.

"Good night...Daddy."

It was something Erwin didn't think he missed until he heard it for most probably the last time.

_Missed?_ For once, he allowed himself the feeling. He's earned that right, hasn't he?

"Good night, Y/n."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good night, Daddy.
> 
> This still turned out to be more of an Erwin & Reader, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	8. Furlan x Reader x Levi - Furlan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, boy! Who's ready for some angst?!
> 
> I wanted to point out that Levi is my favorite of the series, so you might see quite a bit of works featuring him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting in my files unfinished, but I finished it today! I thought I could give you guys a little read as I work on a request. I had this sitting with me since just after the Female Titan arc of the show, so I guess that gives you an idea on how long I've had this for. I noticed I have a bunch of stories, just sitting there... They'll be finished periodically and shared with you guys!
> 
> Some hardship and a little bit of angst packed in a little bundle all for you!
> 
> The separating lines means time skips and "~*~" means a small time skip.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes! I hope you enjoy!

You collapsed back, a mixed sigh of exhaustion and relief escaped you as an infant's cries echoed throughout the room. Sweat beading on your forehead, you closed your eyes momentarily, thanking the Goddesses that the agonizing pain of giving birth was finally over.

After a while, a now clean, silent infant entered your tired gaze as a nurse came in and gently guided him into your eager arms, happily and softly exclaiming, "Congratulations! It's a boy.". Levi stood beside you, completely dressed in proper birthing-room attire. He stood with you during your birthing process, holding your hand and speaking encouraging words. You stared lovingly at the infant, his hair matching his deceased father's; a dirty blonde color.

Your late lover died "honorably" as you were told by Captain Erwin Smith, but Levi was kind enough to tell you the truth.

The news shattered your heart. You weren't told with words, no. You confronted Levi as they entered through the gates, failing to get a response from him but a dark expression and eyes full of determination. You later confronted Levi once more, this time with a much more careful and softer approach. By now, you knew you were just torturing both yourself and Levi. You noticed that neither Furlan nor Isabel entered with their leader as they had before. That and Erwin Smith was still alive. Nevertheless, you asked and Levi looked you dead in your eyes and embraced you, soft and careful, promising to take of care of you and your soon-to-be-child. It sounded like you weren't the only one he was promising to.

That was all it took to break you and you openly wept in Levi's arms for Goddesses knows how long.

You were to go with them. You were supposed to, but your passionate night with Furlan came with a price. A price that you couldn't wait to tell and it was a good thing you did; right before the last expedition you saw him, you told him. He stopped his process of getting on his horse when you called for him, running up to him. Not a good idea, but you could barely contain yourself, you gave it no mind at the moment. That very morning you had just found out with blood work since you were feeling ill. The news left him paralyzed for a moment, staring at you with wide-eyed surprise. A bit too long for your liking, you started to get worried he would reject the unborn life, but he instead embraced you tightly, yet carefully. A loving embrace, a loving kiss and a promise to definitely come back to you, safely intact. He didn't mean to break his promise, you knew that and you weren't mad at him either. It only made you despise titans even more.

Levi acted as your guardian, protecting you from anyone and anything. Making sure you ate and rested and anyone who would so much as give you a look he didn't approve of would earn a personal meet-and-greet with him. The bigger you got, the more protective he was and when the time came, he dressed immediately and had everything already prepared the night before, like every night before then. Just in case.

The infant stirred, giving tiny whines as the light started to bother his closed, untrained eyes. Levi leaned down to hug your shoulders, marveling at the new life and you noticed the smallest genuine smile and softened eyes. You've never thought you would see such an expression on the stoic man.

"What's the brat gonna be named?"

Levi spoke with his ever elegant vocabulary, his voice soft. Even with that, he didn't break the comfortable serenity. You gave a tired smile, your eyes never leaving your beautiful new child and you opened your mouth to answer him.

* * *

"Furlan Jr. Church!"

Your sharp ears heard the quietest whisper of, "Darn it..."

You told him. You told your five year old son not to chase the stray cat he adopted inside the house, he could break something. After he called back a "Yes, Mama!", minutes later you heard an unceremoniously loud crash of what you guessed was your favorite flower vase. Just what you thought was exactly what it was. There your son stood, holding the aforementioned feline like a teddy bear, it's lower body hanging down, it's back paws just barely touching the floor. Jr. looked at you with misty y/e/c orbs. The same as his mother's.

"S-Sorry...I'll help you clean it up." he said putting the cat down, who zoomed away in the opposite direction Jr. was facing.

"No, you'll hurt yourself. Now your father will have to get me a new one..." you muttered the last part to yourself as you swiftly got the broom, but your son heard you.

"...Why don't I look like Papa?"

Your movements wavered for a fraction of a second, not expecting the sudden question. You stopped sweeping to look at him. He had a focused expression on his face, his eyes showing curiosity and a hint of sadness.

"...You're the splitting image of your father." you smiled. "You even have his personality."

"I don't look like him at all! Even my friends say so!"

"Furlan." you kneeled in front of him and met his eyes. You knew this day would come eventually. "You are named after your biological father; Furlan Church. He died serving humanity's cause."

"He...died? Then, who is the Papa I have now?"

...He took that surprisingly well.

"Listen, brat, I'm still your father, biological or not."

"Welcome home, Levi." you got up, kissed the corner of his mouth and left the room momentarily.

"Papa, what was Papa Furlan like?" he jogged up to his father, who picked him up.

"...He was a good friend." he explained, having a far-away look as he reminisced. "And a good partner. I wouldn't trade him for the world. I made a promise to take care of you and your mother, but no matter what, I am also your father, understand brat?"

"Understood, sir!" Jr. did the best salute he could while in Levi's arms and Levi felt a tug of pride from his heart.

"Good. You have it backwards."

"Oh!" he quickly switched his arms while grinning sheepishly.

You emerged from the room over and walked over to your men, handing Jr. an old photograph of Levi, Furlan and Isabel back at the underground. You took that picture with an old camera you managed to swipe from the military police and convinced your friends to pose. There was no need to convince Isabel. She was already ecstatic with the mention of taking a photo and was already trying to pose with a goofy and happy grin, the very same she held in the photo. Furlan wasn't as hyped as Isabel, but happily agreed that it was a good idea. Levi was really the one who needed convincing. In the end, Furlan forced Levi to be in the picture with a goofy grin of his own and Levi—even in the picture—was shouting how he was going to "rip his shitty hand right off his wrist" and you took the shot before he could get away. Remarkably, the picture came out clear as day.

"Here." you let Jr. hold it and pointed as you named the people. "This is Auntie Isabel Magnolia and this...is Papa Furlan Church."

"Whoa!" Jr. cheered.

"You still have that?" Levi mused.

"Of course I do! It's a captured memory."

"I really _do_ look like him!" Jr. gingerly pressed the photo to his forehead as he smiled. "Nice to meet you two."

* * *

The scouting regimen went out and came back with few fatalities than normal this time around. To celebrate an improvement, they let the soldiers go home for a couple of days. Levi came home just in time for dinner. You and Furlan Jr. were happy he was staying longer for a change. Now, you three can catch up on some much needed family time. Furlan, now ten years old, had been having some thoughts on what he wanted to do when he came of age, something he hasn't even shared with you yet. He wanted to wait to tell you and Levi at the same time.

"There were these bullies trying to pick on the girl next door the other day. It was the same kids from last time." Furlan recounted the most recent news of his days with Levi at the dinner table.

"Did you kick their asses?"

"Yes, sir! They ran off saying something about not forgetting or whatever, but they were crying when they said it!"

"That's my boy." Levi ruffled Furlan's hair, a proud glow coming from said boy as he smiled at his father.

The table was quiet as the three of you continued to eat. Furlan used this time to gather his courage and finally tell his parents. He took a deep breath, slowly put down his spoon and stared at Levi with a strong expression.

"Spill it." Levi said, without having to look at him.

You looked up, noticing only when Levi spoke up.

"Mother, Father...I was thinking of joining the scouts."

You swore your heart stilled in your chest as you felt your stomach drop, like the spoon in your hand. Levi's expression turned more intense than usual while Furlan stayed firm with his determined position.

No...You've already lost one Furlan, that was more than enough!

"I'm against it." your voice quivered.

"But, Mother!"

"No, Furlan!" you rarely rose your voice at Furlan, but this was one of those times. "I will not lose you, too!"

Furlan was taken back by your outburst. When you talked about his biological father, it was always positive and with love, but you didn't talk about him often, let alone talking about losing him.

"Furlan." Levi called his attention. "I agree with your mother."

Furlan gave him an incredulous look, but spoke calmly.

"But, I can do it! You're Humanity's Strongest! I want to take that title from you and wear it proudly! I want to take back humanity with my own hands!"

Having seen the damaged soldiers coming home time and again, it was clear what type of job he would be getting himself into, but the prospect of leaving the walls and seeing the outside world for himself had him fascinated. Furlan thought long and hard about this decision.

You both stared at him with a great sense of pride. He had your determination. You teared up as you thought of how fast he's growing.

"You would be a fine soldier..." you said as you got up and tightly embraced him. "I just don't want to one day wake up and be told that I lost you. I wouldn't be able to handle it." You whispered as tears ran down your cheeks just at the thought.

"Mama, it's ok." he held your face with both his hands and kissed your cheek. "I'm the son of Humanity's Strongest!"

* * *

Furlan Jr. passed through all physical activities in camp with flying colors due to Levi's rigorous training. He worked his boy to the bone every day and every day Furlan would come back home with new bruises, his body sore and painful. He often ended up passing out as soon as he got home—which you argued with Levi over—and ate his fill when he woke up, but his hard work paid off when he got to military camp. He quickly gained friends, becoming quite close to the trio, Eren, Armin and Mikasa in the 104th class and was admired/envied when word got out that his father was Lieutenant Levi—to his dismay as he was trying to keep that a secret.

"Are you serious?!" he exclaimed when Connie asked if the rumor was true one day in the mess hall. "Tsk. Who was the shit-head who told you that?"

If his colorful language and attitude when he was irritated or angry didn't persuade others, then his talent with the omni-directional gear did. He finished in second place, right after Mikasa. His score with placing second was a literal smidgen off from placing first.

In the struggle for Trost, he is one of the survivors, coming out with minor injuries and was one of the ones who witnessed Eren come out of his titan form. Being very close to the trio, he joined Armin and Mikasa in helping Eren, even joining them in the courtroom hearing, much to Levi's surprise.

Furlan Jr. kept to his promise of joining the scout regiment and was treated less formally having already been acquainted to the scouts by extension of you and Levi. His comrades were thinking it was unfair that he was getting "special treatment", but was proven wrong when he was treated just as severely as the others by his own father.

"Fucking morons." he spoke to his friends as he hung out with them on their breaks. "Just because they speak to me differently, doesn't mean it's the same when it comes to everything else. I'm a new cadet, just like you guys."

You moved into the castle that the scouts cleaned, conveniently after the cleaning was done. It was completely unintentional, as you didn't have the slightest idea that the scouts had moved and cleaned a whole castle besides knowing that the castle itself hasn't been used in quite some time. When you did arrive, however, you laughed at their misfortune when they told you that you had missed the cleaning party and tracked down your son to embarrass him in front of his friends. Your plan was super-effective, the 104th cadets teased him for it for a week.

You, Levi and Furlan Jr. had your meals with each other and spent a little family time in Levi's office every day. Each day, you acted as if that was the last day you would spend together with your family. You were not to go out of the safety of the castle, so watching the scouts leave gave you an enormous amount of anxiety, but not once did you go against Levi's wishes of leaving the castle. He wanted you safe and sound. He will continue to keep his promise and keep himself sane by knowing his family was safe, but that was not meant for forever.

You trained yourself in secret and while at the castle, you helped the cadets with training as well. You trained yourself back to the peak fit you were before you were pregnant. It took the years that your son had to undergo at military camp, but you did it and you begged Levi to let you join the fight. Ultimately, the choice was up to Erwin, but Levi was so against it that he didn't allow you to see said Commander. The argument escalated so high that both of your shouts could be heard in all the castle. It got so bad, people thought you two were going at it physically, even though nothing of the sort was heard.

** _"Ma, Pa! What do you think you're doing?! Do you realize you could probably be heard in the city?!"_ **

Furlan shouted as he slammed the door open. What he found was the both of you glaring daggers at each other. You had Levi by the front of his shirt in a tight death grip that pulled your faces close and Levi had a tight hand on your wrist that would most definitely leave a bruise.

**_"Your mother is staying inside the castle where it's safe!"_** Levi continued to shout.

**_"I will do what I damn well want to! You can't stop me from trying to help protect my family!"_** you shouted just as loud as he did.

**_"Guys!"_** Furlan shouted again. He just wanted you two to cut it out already. "Ma, you can't be serious." he stared at you in disbelief. He had never in his entire life seen you two so flustered. "I don't want to go out there myself, how would you think I would feel knowing you were out there with us?"

"I know how to fight titans, son." you panted, starting to come down from your high, finally letting go of Levi's shirt and Levi in turn released your wrist.

"That doesn't make it any better and you didn't answer my question." Furlan stared at you with intensity. "I'm completely against it. _I_ would rather be out there than have you be."

"No...!" You quickly went over to him and took him by his shoulders. "_You_ are the one who shouldn't have to face these monsters. I have lived my life, Furlan. I've dated, had a child, _gotten married_." You stared him in the eyes with just as much intensity. "You have yet to experience _one_ of those things. I don't want this for you!" Now calmed down, you started to cry. "And I'll be _damned_ if I let you go out there without your mother."

"You didn't forget, right Ma? My father is Humanity's Strongest."

"And he won't always be there to help you! He has other people to look after as well!"

"Neither will you, if _you_ join the fight! You'll have people to look after just like him!"

"You're right, but this way, there's more of a chance that one of us will be there for you."

"We don't want you to be out there!" Furlan also motioned to Levi, now raising his voice.

"Let her." a deep, commanding voice sliced through the tension in the room from behind Furlan.

By this time, cadets and lieutenant alike were around the door way. Cadets for curiosity and lieutenants to make sure they were there if things got messy at any time. Erwin stepped into the room, placing a reassuring hand on Furlan's shoulder as he passed him.

"Furlan may not, but you know very well she can take care of herself as well as you can, Levi." Erwin continued.

Levi threw his head to the side as he scoffed. He knew this was going to happen, this is precisely why he didn't want you to see him.

"With all due respect, Commander, I am fully aware she fares perfectly when faced with titans. The problem here is that in this war anything goes when it comes to those bastards and _I don't want her out there!__"_

Erwin stared at him with his usual stone face, his expression naturally unreadable. Furlan was so accustomed to the expression, he mirrored it perfectly.

"You might as well be your father reincarnate." Furlan stiffened at the mention, his lips thinning. He was well aware Erwin was the one in charge of the mission his father died in, but he didn't hold it against him. However, it uncharacteristically unnerved him to hear Erwin talk about him. "Your looks and your spirit are exactly alike. He was a fine soldier, you are better. Your mother and father were a force to be reckoned with when they worked together. Levi and your mother were an unstoppable duo. I believe the three of you will make difference enough to possibly tide our battles to our favor." Erwin turned his head to catch your eyes. "I promote you to Lieutenant from your old position. I want you to work with Levi and continue your work with the cadets. I also place Furlan under your command."

There was a silent plea in Erwin's eyes that you, Levi and Furlan caught: _Please let this be enough for no further problems._

"Yes, Commander!" you gave a strong salute along with a strong voice.

Levi and Furlan both gave the Commander hardened glares and Furlan bit his tongue, keeping his words from tumbling out and averted his gaze with clenched teeth. He couldn't stand to look at him right now. With his job seemingly done, Erwin turned to leave, but Levi had other ideas.

"You stop right the fuck there!"

Furlan was done. He didn't want to hear any more arguing about this matter and left the room. If it wasn't out of his hands in the beginning of this discussion, it is now. He headed for his room to fume quietly by himself, his footsteps heavy. Mikasa followed him, finding it difficult to keep up with him. She noticed he was on a personal mission and she didn't want him to get himself into any trouble. She quickened her pace and managed to place a hand on his shoulder, stopping his march. Eren and Armin were following Mikasa all the while, wanting to be there even if simply for moral support. Furlan had his hands in tight fists. To his friends, it looked like he was ready to take his frustration out on a solid object. Like maybe a wall.

"Sometimes I wish I could punch those fat caterpillars right off his face..."

Eren couldn't help but snicker as Mikasa smiled and Armin chuckled. If Furlan can make a joke, then it's safe to assume he's calm enough to drop his personal mission.

"I was just gonna go to my room. I'm not an idiot, y'know." Furlan read Mikasa like a book. "Unlike Eren."

As Furlan joined the trio's inner circle, he gained so much respect for Mikasa's fighting ability that he gained a small crush for her, often paying close attention to her enough that he quickly learned her body language, a skill he gained from studying his father as a child. Right after joining the scouts, he told her how he felt, although he already knew she wasn't looking to have a boyfriend. The confession thankfully didn't affect their friendship, but he let her know that he was serious and that eventually he would like to go on a date.

"You trying to pick a fight?" Eren raised an eyebrow.

"...Actually, yeah." he smiled at him, but there was hidden frustration behind it. "Let's spar."

* * *

"Levi."

You woke up first, right as the sun was starting to rise. Levi's internal clock woke him up at the same time as always. You took a little while to cuddle with him, before having to get up and work. You rested your head on his chest and he held you close with an arm, as he drew small, soothing circles on your hip. Today was the day of a big expedition and he sensed you were a bit off.

"I saw Furlan."

You had his full attention at the call of his name, but now he tuned in to every word that came out of your mouth.

"He praised me for how well I raised our child and he's thankful that you were there to help me."

He hummed at your words, then scoffed.

"If the bastard had time to pay you a visit, he should have visited me as well."

You gave a small huff of a giggle, gave him a peck on the lips, then got up to get ready for the day.

You were tasked with protecting Eren along with Furlan Jr. and Levi's squad. This expedition was a big one, even if it was a simple plot course. Any expedition is big in your eyes, as they all risk contact with titans.

Everything happened too fast.

It took but a moment of panic and your friends were dead. If it weren't for Furlan's quick thinking, you would have also been dead as well, but you instead suffered a gash on your leg from one of your wires from your gear snapping back at you and a rough landing. Eren transformed in his anger, unintentionally shielding you from your attacker and effectively giving Furlan enough time to get you to some place safer than Eren's battle with the female abnormal titan. You and your son landed on a high, wide tree branch and watched in growing horror as the female titan snatched Eren from his titan body's nape and sped away.

**_"Eren!"_** you cried and gasped in pain when you moved your leg in the wrong way.

"Ma, Ma! Keep still!" Furlan was trying to stop the bleeding with some first aid essentials he carried with him. "I'll get him back, let me just—"

"No, Furlan! Eren is our top priority! Leave me, you have to—"

"I can't just leave you like this!"

_**"Go!"**_ Furlan didn't stop his hands from moving, trying to wrap your leg with wrapping bandages. You caught his hand, effectively stalling his movements and spoke with a much quieter voice. "Go, my son. I'm safe here."

Furlan's eyes watered as he looked at you and you smiled, further encouraging him to continue with his active task. Quickly, he looked away and sped away using his gear, intent on finding the female titan who took Eren. He studied her and realized she didn't swallow once she had him in her mouth. As soon as he gets Eren, he's going back to get you—

Just then, he noticed Mikasa and his father speeding toward him at an amazing pace, startling him to a stop, hanging safely off a tree trunk. Perfect, he has full confidence they'll get Eren back. Since that's taken care of, he can get back to his bleeding out mother and get her proper help before it was too late. So focused on getting back to you, he got careless, getting caught in the grasp of large titan who waited for the perfect time to catch him as soon as it heard him. He loudly cried out in pain as it caught him.

You had finished tightly wrapping your leg when you heard his cry from your position. You managed to stop the bleeding and you hurried to stand, trying your hardest to not irritate your wounded leg while still getting to your son's location. You used your gear to get to him, entering just in time to see him stick one of his swords to the roof of the mouth of the Titan that had him in its clutches. The Titan busied itself with trying to get the sword out of it's mouth while Furlan busied himself with trying desperately to find a way out of the titan's grasp. You lined yourself up to cut that titan's hand. Like hell your son will become Titan food if you had anything to say about it!

But as you launched yourself toward, you didn't notice your gear was malfunctioning, causing you to miss. Furlan's eyes widened in horror when he saw you crumble at the foot of a nearby tree, the beginnings of blood seeping out of the bandages on your wounded leg.

"Ma, what are you doing?!" he shouted at you. "Run away before it's too late!"

"I will do everything in my power to keep that thing from eating you!" you shouted. "Look at me, you bastard!" you threw the last of your swords at it, effectively catching its attention and it started towards her, Furlan's sword still stuck in the roof of it's mouth. "That's right, I'm right here!"

"No, no, no! Stay away from her, you ugly fuck! You still have me!" Furlan tried to deter its attention with little success.

From a distance, Furlan heard distinct whirling wires, having a good guess on who it belonged to. He took in a deep breath, to shout at the top of his lungs. _**"**_**_MIKASA, SAVE MY MOTHER! PLEASE!"_**

The Titan stopped in it's tracks, as if just now remembering it had him.

"No! No, my boy!" he heard his mother shouting and immediately looked in your direction, catching your and Mikasa's gaze.

Mikasa's gaze was sadness and anger, she could help you instead and get you both out of there—even with Eren in her arms—but the look he was giving her urged her to continue on without him. There's no way she can carry all three of you with her. She may be strong, but she has her limits. Furlan mouthed a thank you, while also giving you an adoring look and you knew he was saying goodbye. You reached out to him, crying out to your only boy. The last thing you saw was the Titan finally swallowing the sword it had stuck in its mouth and it raising him up to do the same.

Hearing another set of wires, Furlan looked over to see his father racing towards him, his face filled with dread and desperation.

He wasn't going to make it in time, both of them knew. So, Furlan did the only thing he could think of doing.

He saluted his final goodbye.

** _"FURLAN!"_ **

Again... Not again! It was as if re-living his best friend's death. Levi redirected himself to fly at the titan's mouth. He knew he wouldn't make it in time, but his gut told him otherwise and he outstretched his arm, grabbing his son's arm and holding the titan's mouth open with another sword and his sheer strength. Levi doesn't know how he was able to make it, but he'll dwell on that later. Instead he launched an anchor to a nearby tree and as he pulled Furlan towards him, he unlocked his blade to leave it behind and launched both of them out of the titan's mouth. Furlan clung to his father's midsection as Levi flew away from the titan's grasp, effectively getting them both to the free zone. 

Quickly enough, they emerged from the forest just in time for the regimen to pull out.

* * *

You cried as you held your boy to your body. He's alive! You could smack him for making Mikasa help you escape, but you had nothing in you but relief. You don't know how many times you kissed his face, not like Furlan was going to stop you, feeling relief himself.

The mission was a failure, it was obvious from the looks of it and the townspeople only further confirmed it. Neither you nor Furlan wanted to look at the people. Judging by their murmurs, all that you'll see is judgment.  
~*~  
"There was no way I would have been able to get to him in time." Levi was telling you as he sat next to you while you rested on a bed in the infirmary wing, speaking softly.

You had gotten your wound cleaned and dressed, now simply resting your exhausted body. They had also found a sprained back muscle from when you missed the titan that was holding Furlan and had a rough landing.

"Perhaps Furlan knew something was going to go wrong. I believe he helped rescue our son." you replied.

"I think he did." Levi agreed.

Furlan Jr. was also resting on a bed near you, but he was out cold. He had suffered bruised ribs and was given pain killers and when the pain subsided enough, his body was finally allowed to relax.

"I think things will only get harder from here on out. Petra and the others..." you stopped yourself as tears gathered in your eyes once more.

Levi helped scoot you over, so he can squeeze himself onto your bed and hug you to his chest. Levi lost his entire squad in one fell swoop. You were friends with all of them and he and you were still in the middle of grieving for them. Levi's grieving was internal, but you were external, crying for them periodically.

"I'll destroy them." Levi muttered, determination in his eyes as he embraced you and let you cry against his chest. "Every single one of them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They will all be destroyed.
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	9. Sweetheart!Shy!Reader - Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from the lovely Krolina in which a Sweetheart Reader is shy, new to the Scouts Regimen and wants to make friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the request, hon! It's a little on the short side, but I hope you still like it!
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes! Please enjoy!

"We will be expecting a new recruit the next coming day. Until then, continue as you have been. That is all." Erwin had explained the latest news in the mess hall during breakfast.

"A newbie!" Sasha excitedly bounced in her seat.

"The Commander left a lot for the imagination." Armin thought out loud. "He didn't specify if they were male or female..."

"We'll find out when they get here." Eren coolly added and Mikasa nodded, agreeing with him.

"What do you guys think?" Sasha pulled the three friends into her conversation. "What do you think this person's going to be like?"

"Well, it's hard to say without anything to go by." Armin responded.

Without any context, some of the cadets started sharing their own imaginings about what you were probably going to be like. Perhaps you were unremarkable, the type to blend in properly, someone kind of like Bertholt. The young man in question startled slightly when he heard his name, shooting a bemused expression in the direction he heard his name from. Perhaps you were outgoing, a small ball of hyper, maybe Hange level of hyper. This idea was quickly casted away. There was only room for _one_ Hange in the Survey Corps and even then, it was sometimes too much. Perhaps you were serious, one who didn't know what humor tasted like or perhaps you were a prankster and knew how to have a good time. The possibilities where endless and by the end of breakfast, the cadets were brimming with excitement, some more than others. When you finally arrived, the Commander introduced you to everyone at once on a makeshift stage. You and the Commander stood on an elevated area at the current Scout HQ where everyone was staying at. You were seemingly staring off into space and saluted a bit belatedly after Erwin said your name. You seemed to be the serious type and maybe a bit of an airhead, which disappointed a couple of cadets, like Sasha and Conny, but others like Eren and Armin were glad. Afterwards, you were quickly assigned to work, but were told to socialize with the cadets and get associated with them first. Excitedly, some of the 104th approached you when you stepped off the makeshift stage.

"Hi!" you were first greeted by Sasha. "Nice to meet you, Y/n! I'm Sasha Blouse!"

You nodded, slightly bowing your head in greeting. Sasha's smile slightly faltered, but she tried to stay cheerful. During the whole of your interactions, you were mostly quiet, but finally quickly uttered some words of greeting when Eren asked why you weren't speaking and if something was wrong. When introductions were over, you excused yourself to get to your first assignment. The 104th stared at your retreating form as you hurried away. You were pretty much uneventful.

"She barely even said anything." Sasha lightly complained, pouting a little.

"She might need time to get used to us." Krista spoke up. "I remember how we felt when we first joined."

The group agreed and decided to get back to what they were supposed to be doing before they get called out. At lunch, the cadets noticed you sat a bit away from everyone. You were also a cadet, so they found it strange you wanted to sit by your lonesome, but left you alone, thinking you just had to get used to things.  
~*~  
"Y/n?"

You slightly jumped out of your daydream, your head shooting up to see Krista and a not-amused Ymir behind her. The small blonde offered a patient smile.

"Would you like to spar with us?" she invited.

Oh...You were supposed to be sparing, but you were, instead, drifting off to your own little world and was caught in the middle of it. You blushed, now grasping your situation, giving her a small nod. Krista, who was still smiling, waited for you to stand so she can lead you closer to the other cadets. You felt like you were back in camp as you greeted each other and watched as Krista got into a stance. Defensive, you quickly assessed just by glancing at her body language. You knew how to street fight, something you were never proud of. Your brother had taught you how to defend yourself after you had come home one too many times hurt and crying because of your neighborhood bullies. They found you, a quiet girl who minded her own business, an easy target and you proved to be exactly that, until you were taught how to defend yourself. You never fought back, not once, but you learned how to get out of situations where it looked like a bully had you where they wanted and you also quickly learned to watch their body language and how to act accordingly. Then, when you joined the military, the moves you learned there only added to your street fighting skills.

You awkwardly stood there as Krista readied herself, watching to see if she would switch and go on the offensive.

"Don't hold back!" Krista encouraged with a serious expression that almost looked like a pout.

You got nervous. She wants you to start? Ahh...You were no good with this kind of activity. Dodging and defending, sure, but attacking another human being? Why were you even here again?

"Sorry...I-I'm no good at..." you muttered, but Krista must have caught it, judging by how she loosened her stand and gave you a slight worried expression.

The small blonde opened her mouth to ask if you were all right, but Ymir nudged her aside, scoffing.

"Such a wimp." she locked eyes with you and without warning, attacked you.

Quickly, you ducked, just barely getting away in time. Ymir wasted no time in attacking again and again. You skillfully dodged each attack, even managing to push her back with a couple deflecting moves, but not once did you attack back.

"You've got some moves." Ymir said, finally stepping down. "But, you're going to end up hurt if you don't fight back."

"I-I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Only fools like you think they can live their whole lives without hurting someone. Eventually, you'll come across someone who really wants to hurt you without rest. What then?" Ymir didn't wait for your answer, ending her speech by putting both her hands behind her head. "Well, I'm spent. Let's go relax, Krista."

"Ymir! We still have thirty minutes left!"

Ymir simply looked to the side with a not-interested face and Krista pouted at her, telling her that she should take this more seriously, especially now that they're part of the Scouts. You decided to leave them to their own devices. 

Those two seem like good friends...

Some of the others saw your interaction with Ymir, watching with awe as the new girl was quick on her feet and seemed to know just how to defend with each attack aimed at her. The watching cadets were impressed and Eren approached you with a grin.

"That was really something, Y/n!" he praised and you blushed in response, stuttering a broken thank you.

"I agree." Reiner approached you next. "You have impressive reflexes."

"How were so fast?!" Sasha was next to quickly approach you. "You have to teach me!"

Soon, you were surrounded by your new teammates. You were happy they seemed to like you, but this was too much, too quickly. So, after you thanked them all again, you quickly hurried away once again. Confused, Armin called after you, but you only quickened your steps and disappeared from view. The cadets muttered amoungst each other. What was that? Why did you just leave like that, they were only praising you.

"What's her deal?" Jean thought out loud as the cadets started to disperse. "She doesn't interact with anyone, doesn't talk to anyone unless spoken to. What, does she think she's better than us?"

"I'm not sure that's it." Armin replied.

"That's what it looks like to me."

At dinner is when the cadets saw you again, once more sitting away from everyone else, eating silently.

"Maybe Jean's right." Sasha muttered. "It doesn't look like she wants to be near us."

"You think she hates us?" Conny asked.

"Hold on." Armin spoke up, trying to deflate the conversation. "She's only been here for one day! Let's give her the benefit of the doubt."

"She might not hate us. She could just be stuck up." Jean added more fuel to fire.

"Like you were?" Eren pointedly retorted and Jean glared at him.

"You really think that?" Reiner asked Jean, but his face expressed that he didn't believe you were for a moment.

"Well, why else does she not want to interact with us? She only does it when she has to!"

"I don't agree with you." Krista spoke up after hearing her fill. "She doesn't seem like that type of person."

"She's too much of a wimp and an airhead."

"Ymir!" Krista lightly scolded her.

"She kind of is." Mikasa spoke up, agreeing with Ymir. "I saw her bump into the door frame before walking in here." Clearly, you haven't been paying attention.

Sasha, Conny and Ymir snickered, wishing they had seen you do that.

"I say we try again." Eren suggested. "We have an off day coming up, we should take this chance to try to get to know her."

* * *

"Where is she going?"

The cadets went along with Eren's idea in the next couple of days, but you had set out to town. Determined to keep tabs on the new recruit, the cadets followed you at a distance with you none the wiser. You went along the shopping strip searching for something. The cadets watched as you stopped at one of the gifts stalls, looking intently at the items. Just what were you looking for? Suddenly, you were on the move again and the cadets stumbled against each other to try to follow you while keeping hidden. At one point, you thought you heard a mutter that suspiciously sounded like Conny, but when you turned to look, you didn't find him. You even took a couple steps toward the direction you thought you heard it from for a closer look, but since you still didn't find anything, you mentally shrugged it off, thinking you were only hearing things and continued on. Meanwhile, the cadets had separated a bit, hiding around a corner, a tree and an empty stall and Sasha had covered Conny's mouth when he spoke a bit too loud. When they thought the coast was clear, they looked to see you were gone and they cursed among themselves for losing you. They took about five minutes trying to find you, which was difficult since they were still trying to keep you from seeing them. 

"Psst! There!" Armin softly called, pointing.

Finally, he spotted you on your way back, holding a brown paper bag filled to the brim. They tried to see or catch a glimpse of what was in it, but you had the top folded down, afraid that some would spill out. Before they were caught, they decided to head back before you. Maybe they'll find out what it was you bought later.  
~*~  
You were nervous. You wanted to get something for everyone, but you didn't know what everyone liked. You had thought to ask, but every time you tried, you chickened out in the end. You mentally chided yourself, _you should have asked!_ but what was done is done. You waited for lunch time to come around and eagerly waited for most of everyone to finish their meals, even trying your luck by sitting closer to the other cadets. Before anyone had a chance to get up and leave, with a racing heart, you stood up and announced you had something for everyone. Nervously, you brought out the bag you had brought back with you, revealing that you had bought donuts for everyone, including the vets, surprising everyone.

"I wanted to get everyone something, b-but I didn't know what everyone liked..." you paused, trying to swallow your nervousness. "I've seen how everyone interacts with each other a-and I want to be friends with all of you, b-but I'm no good at talking or i-interacting at all..."

As you spoke, some started to close the gap between you, wanting to hear you out.

"I-I thought everyone likes sweets, so I bought donuts for everyone. I hope you all like it..."

"Aw!" Hange was the first to verbally react and loudly at that, making you flinch. She came up to you and pulled you into a tight hug as some of the Scouts grabbed the treats you had generously bought them. You gasped in surprise as she pulled you in. "You're so cute! I would love to be your friend!"

"You're the best I could ask for!" Sasha exclaimed, stuffing her mouth full.

Even the Commander took part in the rare treat. It's not everyday that one gets to eat a donut.

"Where did you get these?" Armin asked with a smile.

"M-My mother is a baker. I visited her and she gave me those to give to you guys.

"They're good, thank you." Erwin offered a small smile.

You noticed lieutenant Mike grab a donut and nodded at you as thanks. You couldn't help but send him a shy smile in return.

"I guess these are good." Oluo commented after he took a bite, effectively grabbing your attention.

"Oh, stop it, you!" Petra chided him, but smiled at you. "They're delicious, thank you."

"Welcome to the Scouts." Levi said, then took a bite of his treat.

Your eyes watered, but you willed yourself to not cry in front of everyone, even if it was tears of joy.

"Hey, um," Jean spoke to you, reaching over to grab a treat before they were all gone. "I had the wrong impression about you. Sorry for judging you before getting to know you."

"Eh?" you lamely answered. "Oh...It's OK. I wasn't being v-very, uh..." you tried to keep eye contact, but your nerves got the best of you and you started to look at anything other than him. "S-Sorry..."

"Thanks for the donuts." you heard him say.

You glanced at him and he shot you a grin, before walking off to give you some space. You smiled after him, thankful that he kind of saved you from yourself there. The rest of the cadets chatted happily with you, saying that you're sweet for doing this, that you didn't have to and you could have just asked, but you were glad that you decided to surprise everyone like this. Even if it was a bit nerve wracking. All too soon, the Commander declared that dinner was over and that if everyone was finished eating, to get back to finishing up what they were doing as it was going to be late soon.

"Sit with us tomorrow, won't you?" Krista said, before you escaped her.

"Yeah, it'd be great to get to know you." Eren added.

You smiled, a warm feeling spreading in your chest as your new friends looked at you expectedly.

"Yes!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to give some freedom on who exactly went to spy on Reader with the exception of a couple of characters.
> 
> I hope to hear another request from you again, dear Krolina!
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	10. Armin & Reader - Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Asperger Hero in which Reader becomes a foster mother for Armin after he loses his grandfather! Set in modern AU!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story flowed out of me quickly and oddly smoothly. There were a couple times where I had to stop for a moment and collect myself, because I kept getting teary. As someone who had recently lost their grandfather, it kind of hit home for me.
> 
> Thank you so much for this request, my dear!
> 
> Also when I started writing, I just started using she/her and when I realized, I decided to keep it. I hope you don't mind!
> 
> I apologize for any mistakes! I hope you enjoy!

Life as an orphan was something Armin never thought would happen. After his parents passed away, he lived with his grandfather and although it was hard at first, knowing that his grandfather was there for him every step of the way made everything so much easier. He knew that Grandfather Arlert would probably pass away when he was in adult hood, but to pass away while Armin was still young was something the boy didn't expect and Armin was devastated. Eren and Mikasa invited him to stay with them, their mother wouldn't mind, they said. He knew she wouldn't, but he couldn't bring himself to impose on them like that, they already do so much for him.

"Hello, there."

Armin was huddled against the wooden wall of an abandoned storage shed, his legs drawn to his chest and his face hiding behind his knees. Eren and Mikasa were with him earlier and he ate lunch at their house, after not having a say when Eren practically dragged him with them. Still grieving, he wasn't up for anything when they went back out to play and he told his friends so, but he encouraged them to go and have fun. After much reassurance that he was ok, they reluctantly did just that, telling him that he can join them at any time, they'll be at their usual hang out. He looked up, hearing a voice over him and saw a young woman's face directly in front of him. He almost gasped in surprise, he wasn't aware of how close this young woman was.

"Your name is Armin Arlert, is it?"

Her voice and her demeanor, the very air around her, everything about this young woman seemed caring, almost motherly. Armin was perplexed. What would a seemingly well off person be wanting from him? He nodded his head as an answer. She smiled, her smile patient and understanding.

But could she really understand?

"My name is Y/n L/n. I know you don't know me, but I knew your grandfather. He used to tell me so much about you. I'm so sorry about what happened to him. I was heart broken when I found out..."

He didn't know her—Although her name sounded familiar—but he could tell she was genuinely sincere with her words. For a moment, it looked like she wanted to cry, her eyes watery, but she steeled herself and got back on track.

"It's nice to meet you, Armin." 

"N-Nice to meet you..."

"I was worried about what would happen to you. How would you like to come with me?"

Go with her? Does she mean to live? She couldn't possibly be that generous. Armin felt himself shrinking back as Y/n stood up straight and extended a hand to him.

"Would you allow me to give you a home?"  
~*~  
This young woman did indeed know his grandfather. She talked with Armin about him all the way to her home and when they got there, the blonde boy marveled at this young woman's home. A mansion, the word continuously circled in his head, even as she led him inside. The inside was just as impressive as the outside, it was elegant, yet simple. There weren't many fancy items around, the opposite of what he started drawing in his head. Straight ahead from the double front doors, were a set of stairs which Armin assumed led to the bedrooms. The white stairs were lined with an elegant black railing which ended in a spiral at the bottom of the stairs. Following the railing up the stairs reveals that the railing follows the entirety of the stairs and continues to line the upstairs hallway. Y/n led him to a hallway to the left and entered another room passed an opened arched doorway.

"This is the dining room." Y/n explained, then pointed to a door on the other end of the room. "The kitchen is that way, passed that door. If you want anything, you only need to ask."

She then led Armin back the way they came from and up the stairs. When they reached the top, he was surprised to see multiple doors along the wall. Are these all bed rooms?

"This here is my room." Y/n pointed open-handed to the first door you see coming up the stairs, then continued to the very next door. "This will be your room."

She opened the door to reveal a very specious room. A queen sized bed sat in the middle of the other end of the room straight ahead from the door. To the right, was a door and dresser with a decent sized mirror hanging above it and to the left a decorative desk with a small desk lamp resting on one side. Armin entered the room in a state of awe. It's so much bigger than his room was!

"You have your own bathroom through the door there." Y/n continued. "It's small, but you'll have your own toilet, sink and shower."

"Madam? Apologies for not meeting you at the door."

"Ah, Jeffrie."

Looking over to the new voice, Armin saw an older man clad in a black suit, black pants and black dress shoes. Under the suit, he saw a white shirt and a black tie.

"Armin, this is Jeffrie Rhols, my head butler. He knows everything about anything in this house. Jeffrie, remember the Arlert who recently passed away? This is his grandson."

"My condolences, young Arlert." Jeffrie bowed.

Armin didn't know what to say, so he merely bowed back.

"Will the young Master be staying with us?"

Young Master?

"Excellent question. What do you think, Armin? Would you like to stay?"

Armin took a moment to think. Does he? It would be nice to live in a mansion...and Y/n has been nothing but nice to him. He can say with certainty that she did know his grandfather by the talk they had on their way here and if his grandfather trusted her, he has no reason to not trust her, as well.

"Yes." Armin responded. "I would like to stay."

"Splendid!" Y/n exclaimed, beaming at him, while Jeffrie warmly smiled at him. "If there is anything you need or want, anything at all, don't hesitate to tell either of us, alright?"

"OK."

"Did you eat? Are you hungry at all?"

"N-No. I'm fine. I ate not too long ago..."

"Good. I'll have your things delivered here, while you get yourself situated. I'll let you be. Don't be shy to explore the house if you'd like."

"Thank you. For letting me stay."

"It's the least I could do Armin. Family of a good friend of mine are family to me as well." 

The smile she gave him left him flustered. It was a sort of smile that was caring, yet embarrassingly loving. When she and Jeffrie left, Armin sat on the bed and tested the bounciness by slightly bouncing on it. It's comfortable. He let himself fall backward, testing exactly how comfortable it is. He could fall asleep on it right now and he wasn't even tired. To think he'll be living in a mansion from now on! A small smile spread on his face. That was a real life Butler just now! 

_Grandfather in heaven...I think I'll be OK. An old friend of yours is going to be taking care of me from now on..._

....

....

_I miss you._

* * *

"How is he?" Y/n asked a worried looking maid the day after she had brought Armin in to live with her.

Armin hadn't left his room since she left him to his own devices yesterday. She had imagined that he would have wandered around the mansion, maybe even found himself in the beautifully grown garden in the back.

But he hasn't even left his room.

Y/n knew what he was doing. He was drowning himself in grief, much like she had done when she first found out about the elder Arlert's passing. He was a good family friend and although Y/n had never had the chance to acquaint herself with Armin, she would speak to Grandfather Arlert as often as she could. That turned out to be rarely recently, as she had become so busy, she almost forgot her left from her right.

The maids had been bringing the new young Master food and he seemed to be eating it, judging by the dirty dishes he left outside of the door. If he's got a little bit of an appetite, then he's not doing horribly, but Y/n still felt worried for him. When she noticed she hasn't seen him after she left him yesterday, she thought she would give him some space, but then evening turned to night and she still hadn't seen him. Y/n had stood by his door and called out a good night to him when it was time for bed. She managed to catch a small good night back, so she was satisfied with that at the moment, but now it was to be evening again soon, but still no hide nor hair from him.

"He seemed to be sleeping when I brought him some his clothes that had been delivered." the maid explained. "There has not been much movement in there."

Y/n nodded and the maid excused herself to continue doing what she was supposed to do, while Y/n went up and knocked on Armin's bedroom door.

"Armin?" she called and waited for an answer, but there was none. There wasn't a single movement and if she didn't know any better, she would say he wasn't in there. "I'm coming in, OK?"

After waiting another moment, she let out a soft sigh, then opened the door just enough to peak in. Laying on his bed, was Armin, seemingly sleeping. He wasn't moving an inch, but by paying attention to his breathing, Y/n knew that he wasn't sleeping. She entered the rest of the way in, leaving the door slightly ajar and approached him, kneeling down beside his bed. His eyes were opened and seemed to be staring off into space.

"Armin." Y/n called again and this time he seemed to startle out of his thoughts, gasping in surprise and causing Y/n to gasp herself. "Oh! Did I startle you?"

"A little..."

"I'm sorry. I tried calling out to you before."

"Sorry. I didn't hear you."

He was so far into his thoughts, he didn't hear her. Perhaps, it was the same for the other cases of failed responses.

"I'd like to show you something. Come with me." Y/n cheerfully invited.

Armin didn't verbally respond, burying his face into his fluffy pillow instead. He doesn't want to do anything. A little bit of distraction worked for Y/n, it might do a little good for him, too.

"Come on, Armin. I'm sure you'll like it." Y/n pleaded.

After a moment, Armin turned his head to look at the kind, young woman, who smiled patiently, and he sighed, easing himself off the bed with some effort. Happily, Y/n took his hand and led him down the stairs, to the left, the hallway opposite of the hallway leading to the dining room and kitchen, one that he hadn't gone down yet. The two passed a room that looked like a sitting area. The furniture inside looked decorative, but they passed too quickly for him to get a proper look. At the end of this hallway, Y/n opened a door and pulled him with her, entering the beginnings of a flowing garden. There were walls of rose bushes, all different colors, resembling another hallway. A wave of floral smells can be sensed as soon as he passed the door frame. She continued to lead him passed the roses and to a lone bed of flowers. White roses created a rectangular shape and the inside was filled with pink carnations and summer grown Peruvian lilies.

"Mr. Arlert visited my parents and suggested a garden a long time ago, when I was young. He said it would have been grand to sit among the flowers and have a chat. We had a garden back then, of course, but it was nowhere near as grand as this. It took a long time to grow, but we finally did it." Y/n spoke, smiling sadly at the lone bed of flowers. "I sent him photos of this garden, but I wanted to invite him, and you, to see it in person."

Armin remembered a couple of photos of a beautifully grown garden his grandfather had shown him a while ago. He seemed almost proud when he showed him, smiling ear to ear. Armin recalled that, at the time, he mentioned that a friend had sent him those photos. The boy had thought that it would be nice to visit a garden like that, he never would have thought that he would really be standing among it someday. Y/n walked up to the flower bed and knelt in front of it, Armin followed her lead and did the same.

"Since I couldn't bring him to this garden, I've decided to bring his memory instead." She then started pointing to each flower individually. "These white roses are used to a honor a father. These are pink carnations, they stand for remembrance and these here are Peruvian lilies, they stand for a grandparents devotion and love. I did this, not only for him, but for you as well, Armin."

She placed a hand on his back as she noticed that the boy started to tear up as he stared at the sorted flowers.

"Even if you decided you didn't want to stay here, I wanted to show this to you. At least once."

Y/n watched as the boy lowered his head between his knees, tears falling silently from his eyes. His sniffs and small hiccups were what gave it away that he had started to cry.

"Come here." Y/n softly said, gently pulling him to her as she fought back her own tears. Armin let himself be pulled, resting his forehead against her shoulder as she lightly stroked the back of his head and rubbed his back. She called his attention again when she noticed that he had calmed down. "What do you think of me adopting you?"

The question caught him by surprise. Adoption? But he's only been here for two days!

"I know this is sudden, but I would very much like to take care of you. I won't push it and I'll leave the decision up to you." Y/n stood up, taking Armin with her, bringing him to his feet. "In the mean time, why don't we see about dinner, hm? What would you like to eat? The chef can make just about anything!"

Armin followed her back into the house and to the kitchen, so he can tell the chef what he would like for dinner, but Y/n ended up suggesting a meal in his stead, since Armin became too timid to meet the chef. Afterward, he returned to his room and thought of her proposition. Adoption...Y/n was an amazing young woman; she knew nothing about Armin yet she still wanted to take him in. She also proved that she cared very much about his grandfather. Armin knew that all that she has done so far was genuinely for him. She has been very patient with him, trying to cheer him up with the garden, a garden that was built because of his grandfather and so far, she's done everything with a smile.

A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Armin?" Y/n's voice floated in from the other side of the door. "Dinner's ready. Would you like to come eat with me?"

That was another thing. She always asks him if he wants to. At any point in time he could reject her and he was sure that if he did, she still would still try to help him in some way. Armin opened the door and was met her patient smile.

She's always smiling.

They walked to the dining room together, dinner already served and waiting for them. Y/n sat at the end of the table and Armin's portion was next to her. Dinner was quiet, except for the occasional ask to past the something or other. However, toward the end of it,

"Yes." Armin suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?" Y/n hummed in question.

"I wouldn't mind...being adopted by you."

Y/n beamed at him, practically vibrating in joy.

"Oh, that's wonderful! Jeffrie!" she excitedly called him over and the butler came over to the table instantly. "Did you hear that?"

"That I did." he smiled at Armin.

"Send over the paperwork needed to my office. I'll pop in there as soon as it's ready."

"Of course, Madam. Right away." and he hurried away.

"How great! Oh, I'm overjoyed you accepted!"

Her happiness was infectious, Armin found himself smiling and becoming giddy. Her mood continued to stay at it's peak even after they had finished dinner. She had practically skipped away when Jeffrie returned to talk to her about said papers of adopting Armin as a foster parent. She excused herself from the boy to take care of paperwork, leaving Armin to do what he wanted once again. He decided to visit the flowerbed again.

"Master Armin?" a maid had snapped Armin out of his thoughts while he stared at the beautiful memento for his grandfather. "It is late. You will catch a cold if you stay out for too long."

Oh? With how illuminated with lights the area was, he didn't notice it had gotten so dark so quickly. He nodded at her, standing up and making his way to her. The maid bowed as she let him pass her, but he felt awkward, so he bowed his head and hurried inside. The maid stifled her giggle, closing the back door behind them. The new young Master was adorable.

* * *

"He's still in there, isn't he?" Y/n asked the maid she placed responsible for looking after Armin's wants and needs when she can't.

The maid, Marcia, is a red head with light green eyes. Due to her gentle nature, Y/n trusted her to watch over Armin, who Y/n believes is fragile at the moment. Marcia had just exited from the boy's room as Y/n exited her own.

"He is, Madam." Marcia said with a solemn expression. "He doesn't seem to want to do much."

"It hadn't been too long ago since elder Arlert passed." Y/n nodded, thoughtfully. "There has to be something I can do to lift his spirits..."

Y/n slowly walked down the stairs, letting her fingers glide down the polished black railing as she went. When she reached the bottom, she paused, an idea striking her just then. Of course!

"Jeffrie, I'm going out to town!" she called, the butler quickly coming to her side.

She swears that he knows how to teleport. No matter where she is in her mansion, he's somehow able to not only locate where she is, but be by her side in a matter of minutes at most. She had tested how fast he can get to her from the other side of her home and he's so quick, she's half convinced the man has mastered the art of teleporting.

"Madam." he answered.

"I'm afraid Armin might not be coming out of his room anytime soon, but if he does, just make sure he's alright until I come back." Y/n spoke as she put on her outing wear.

"Will you be out for long, Madam?"

"I don't plan on taking too long." Y/n paused for a moment. "Actually, why don't you come with me?"

"Of course. I will be but a moment." Jeffrie hurried away to quickly get ready.  
~*~  
Y/n knocked on a door and waited for a moment before Carla opened it.

"Greetings. I am Y/n L/n, this is Jeffrie. I am here to talk about Armin Arlert with his friends. Are you their mother?"

"Yes, I'm Carla Yeager. What about Armin? Did something happen to him?"

At the sound of Armin's name at the door, Eren and Mikasa stood behind Carla to see who exactly was at the door.

"Oh, no, no. I've just wanted to let you know that I have taken the liberty of taking him in."

Carla hastily invited the two in, noticing that they were still talking at her doorway. She made tea, pouring the two guests a cup and continued their conversation.

"So, you've taken Armin in?" Carla asked, putting a plate of pickled snacks on the table.

"Yes. His grandfather was an old family friend, he's told me much about his grandson. I was worried about what was going to happen to the boy, so I've decided to take him in and take care of him, with his permission, of course. I wouldn't want to force him into suddenly becoming my foster son."

"I see." Carla responded, then mentioned to Eren and Mikasa to come over, who were watching their mother and two strangers talk from a distance. "This is my son, Eren and this is Mikasa, I took her in after her parents passed."

The two kids politely bowed.

"It's nice to meet you two. I'm Y/n and this is Jeffrie." Jeffrie bowed. "Armin's still feeling down, understandably, so I was wondering if the two of you would like to come over and visit him?" she looked to Carla. "If that's all right?"

"Can we?" Eren asked, looking between the young woman and his mother.

"I don't have a problem with it."

"Wonderful, thank you, Mrs. Yeager." Y/n bowed low, flustering the mother.

"It's fine." she insisted, waving her hands in front of her. "Armin has been friends with Eren since they were little. There isn't much we wouldn't do for him."  
~*~  
Eren and Mikasa marveled at Y/n's home, starry eyed all the way until they got inside. Armin has been staying here?!

"Y/n L/n." Mikasa muttered.

"Yes?" Y/n replied, as Jeffrie left to see whether Armin was still in his room or not.

"You were recently in the paper. You're one of the most wealthiest women in the Shinganshina District."

"Wha- She is?!" Eren exclaimed.

"I suppose I am." Y/n smiled, a bit embarrassed she was recognized.

Jeffrie came back to the small group after talking to the maids and informed them that Armin was in the garden. Y/n thanked him, thankful that Armin was up and about. She motioned for the two kids to follow her.

"I want to surprise him with you." Y/n said as she reached the back door. "Stay here for a moment. I'll let you know when to come over."

"Okay." Eren replied.

Y/n found Armin kneeling in front of his grandfather's memorial, essentially talking to him.

"It isn't bad..." she heard him mutter as she approached.

"Armin." she softly called to him.

He looked over and saw her smiling softly at him. He bid his grandfather a small goodbye for now, stood up and walked up to her. Y/n's heart went out for him and resolve burned within her.

"I want to promise you something." Y/n started to say.

"What is it?"

Y/n knelt down to meet him face to face, gently holding him by his shoulders.

"I want to promise you that I will do everything in my power so that you can grow up with a family, for as long as you live here. Jeffrie and the maids, my chef, they're not only my helpers, they're also my family. I would like for you to also see them as your family as well one day. As my foster son, I want you to smile and be happy."

Her words brought tears to Armin's eyes. How is she so kind? Y/n reached up and cupped both of his cheeks, swiping away any tears that fell with her thumbs, while smiling softly. All too soon, she stood up and looked toward the back door.

"Okay, you two, come on over!"

You two? Who was she talking to? Armin gazed at her with a confused expression before he saw Eren and Mikasa walking toward him, their eyes looking at the rose bushes with awe.

"Mikasa? Eren?" Armin called.

"Armin!" the two called, hurrying over to them.

"What are you doing here?

"I invited them." Y/n piped up. "I thought you would like the company of your friends."

"You live in this huge house now, Armin?!" Eren questioned excitedly.

"Yeah."

"How is it?" Mikasa asked.

"I miss Grandfather." Armin confessed. "But I'm comfortable here. Y/n's very kind and so is everyone else."

"I'll let you three catch up and play, I'll be inside. If you need anything at all, just call."

"Okay!"

For once in a long while, Armin was smiling. After Y/n left them, she returned to her study room as there were still some paperwork she needed to finish. In the middle of her work, she heard some distant laughing floating in from her door which was a crack open, coming from downstairs. She smiled to herself, the kids have come back inside and they're happy. For Y/n, that's all that matters. After another long while, she looked up to her hanging clock and saw that it was almost lunch time. Y/n pulled her door open and found Armin with an extended hand, his friends standing a little ways behind him. He was most likely about to knock. After slight surprise from both sides, Y/n put on her usual smile.

"Hello, Armin. Are you having fun with your friends?"

"Yes, thank you for inviting them!"

"Of course! Did you need something?"

"Yes, um..." he seemed to hesitate, but after glancing behind him at his friends, he spoke again. "We were wondering when lunch was?"

Y/n chuckled, stepping out of the way, so she can close her study door behind her. She placed a gentle hand on his head as she walked.

"I was just wondering the same thing. Why don't we visit the chef?"

"Yes!" Armin smiled, then signaled for his friends to follow them.

"You have a chef, too?!" Eren said in an incredulous tone.

"This is a wealthy household." Mikasa replied very as-a-matter-of-fact.

Y/n couldn't help but laugh at the exchange.

"What do you guys want to eat? Y/n said the chef can make almost anything." Armin recounted.

"Ehh? Almost anything?" Eren replied, but didn't seem to have anything in particular in mind that he wants.

"We can have some simple sandwiches, does that sound good?" Y/n suggested.

"Sure." Eren responded, Mikasa nodding beside him.

"Sounds good." Armin added.

Y/n walked with them passed the dining room and into the kitchen, calling out for her chef. A man with short light brown hair and blue eyes appeared out of the pantry, just about ready to make lunch. The thing that Armin noticed first was the fact that he was very tall. Y/n had to crane her head up to look at his face.

"Luke, we've decided on some sandwiches for lunch."

Luke looked at her, a smile on his face.

"Sandwiches? Sure thing! Ham and cheese, pb and j...?"

"I'll say both." Y/n said, looking at the kids for comfirmation, who nodded.

Luke beamed at them and then turned to Y/n again.

"Can do, boss! Give me ten minutes max!"

"Thank you, Luke!"

"No problem!"

Y/n then led the kids to the dining room to wait.

"Luke was pretty informal compared to most of everyone else..." Armin commented.

"You say that like this is the first you heard him talk." Eren pointed out.

"It is. It's the first I've seen him, too."

"Hah?!"

"I found Luke down on his luck in the streets years back." Y/n explained. "He was an aspiring cook back then, but he couldn't find much work in the field with the little experience he had. Our last cook was just about to retire, it was perfect timing."

"So, you took _him_ in like you did me." Armin stated.

"I suppose I did, yes. However, he was never much for formal talk. I don't mind how he speaks, I actually prefer it over formalities any day."

"She really saved me." Luke added, overhearing the conversation as he came out with a large tray full of half cut sandwiches, all with the crusts cut off. "I don't know where I would be if it weren't for her. Give me a sec, and I'll bring you some tea." he finished, setting the tray down.

"Thank you!" Armin said, as he and his friends wasted no time in digging in.

Warmth spread in Y/n's chest as she watched the children eat. This is the happiest she's seen Armin, if that smile was anything to go by. She almost wished she had invited his friends sooner. Luke came back out with another tray holding four yunomi cups and a porcelain tea pot. He set the cups and tea pot on the table, pouring each of them a cup. Then, he leaned over and gave Y/n a peck on her temple. The children, having seen the whole thing, stared at the two as Y/n softly chuckled and Luke beamed at her.

"Thank you for lunch, Luke. Delicious, as always."

"The pleasure is always mine." he smiled, then turned to the kids. "If you want something specific for dinner, you just let me know!"

Responses of thank you's rang from the children as they ate, Luke sitting at the table with them for a cup of tea himself. When the children finished their meals, they hurried along with a cheerful, "Come on!" from Armin.

"Marcia had been saying that she was worried for the new young Master, how saddened he looked..." Luke recounted to Y/n as he watched the happy children practically run out of the room. "It seems like you really pulled him out of it."

"I didn't." Y/n replied. "All I was able to do was cheer him up temporarily and even then, he didn't smile this much."

"You don't give yourself enough credit. I'm sure he wouldn't be this happy if you didn't have any influence."

"You give me _too much_ credit."

"You definitely helped him and he'll be fine." Luke gently took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles, his lips lingering. "Promise me you won't worry too much."

It wasn't a question, but Y/n didn't mind. This type of formality was normal for her and Luke, including the mild flirting in-between.

"I promise."

"...You just want me to let go of your hand." he did just that.

"Get back to work." Y/n playfully chuckled.

With a short chuckle and final wink, he stood up from the table, put the empty cups and teapot back on the tray, then strolled back into the kitchen. Y/n shook her head as she headed back to her office, a slightly flustered grin dancing on her lips.  
~*~  
"Thanks for having us over, Ms. L/n." Mikasa said after Y/n rounded them up herself.

Y/n had thought that it was starting to get late and how Mrs. Yeager probably wanted her kids home for dinner. She had found the children playing and chatting in Armin's room, she could hear them all the way downstairs where the maids were happily listening to the lively voices. Now at the front door, Jeffrie also appeared before them, in case he was needed.

"Thanks for coming, guys."

"Feel better." Mikasa replied.

"Next time you want to get taken in by someone, let us know sooner! We were worried about you!" Eren lightly scolded him and Y/n couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his words.

"Sorry. I'll remember for next time." Armin was smiling, obviously going along with Eren's ridiculous request.

"We can have them over for dinner next time. How does that sound?" Y/n suggested.

"How about it, guys?" Armin's face lit up at just the thought.

"Sounds great! And I'll definitely think of something I want for next time, too!" Eren replied enthusiastically with Mikasa nodding beside him.

"Good." Y/n giggled. "Luke likes it best when you request something."

"See you soon." Armin waved.

Y/n nodded to Jeffrie, who led the two waving children out of the door to drive them home safely.

"Did you have fun?" Y/n turned to Armin.

"Yes. Thank you again for inviting them."

"Of course." she replied, putting on hand on his head. "Seeing you smiling so much was nice."

Armin's cheeks adorned a light rosy color. It's a bit embarrassing to hear her say that out loud.

"...Everything will be OK." Armin suddenly said after a moment of silence between them, just as Y/n was thinking about possibly going back to her study.

"Hm?"

"Grandpa told me so." Armin nodded.

Y/n's heart practically melted at his words. He _was_ talking to his grandfather! The elder must have given him some sort of sign.

"Oh, Armin!" Y/n knelt down and pulled him into a hug, thinking that he is adorable. Armin was a bit surprised and a little confused about the sudden embrace. She pulled away enough to look him straight in the eyes. "Promise me something?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me you'll never lose that smile of yours."

Everything that Y/n has done so far has genuinely been for him. For that, Armin was truly grateful and he showed that gratitude with a wide smile.

"I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep smiling, my son.
> 
> Jeffrie, Marcie and Luke are random names I picked so I didn't have to keep saying, the butler, the maid and the chef. Also, Jeffrie cannot teleport. If he's too far from Reader to hear her, another another helper, who did hear her, will tell him. He will run to get to her in a matter of minutes, if he has to. xD
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	11. Pride Month Special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Reader is male in a Modern AU!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Pride Month, everyone! I wanted to thank you all for being so patient with me regarding all the time I'm taking for your requests! However, I decided on taking a little break on them so that I can celebrate Pride Month with this chapter!
> 
> I honestly don't even know if I pulled off right, by here it is!
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes! I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Author's note: M/n = Mother's name

You have lived next to the Yeager family for as long as you can remember. Your parents and the Yeagers befriended each other first, introducing their children to each other one of the times the Yeagers came over your house to visit. You were a pretty withdrawn and timid young child, hiding behind your mother's legs when your parents and the Yeagers first tried to introduce you to Eren. Over time, you eventually got used to him being around, especially when your and his parents got together to hang out. Between the two of you, Eren was the first to initiate a conversation and the first to pull you out of your comfort zone to play with him. 

And you were honestly glad he did.

You would have never hung out with him on your own accord. You were much too withdrawn, you enjoyed playing by yourself. Eren pulled you out of it, time and time again, every time he came over with his parents. All the way up to the point until you finally welcomed him to either play with you in whatever you were already doing or going outside to play with him. Armin Arlet, a boy Eren had befriended at school, eventually joined you and Eren, frequently playing with you two until it was an everyday thing. You honestly didn't want to play with Armin at first, you didn't like how he seemed to suddenly show up one day and started playing with you and Eren. In your eyes, he seemed to be invading, wiggling himself into your friendship with Eren. You had started staying inside your house, keeping yourself entertained, as you had done before meeting Eren.

Eren pulled you out of that, too.

He asked you to just give Armin a chance. Armin was having trouble making friends by himself. If you just let him in a little, Eren was sure you two would get along.

And he was right.

Years flew by and the three of you were the best of friends. Then, at ten years old, Eren's parents adopted a girl, Mikasa Akerman was her name. Mikasa didn't seem to want to do much with you or Armin. Just Eren. That is until one day when she introduced herself to you and Armin and you had a sneaking suspicion that Eren had convinced her to do so. You felt bad for her because you had heard something bad happened to her parents, you didn't know what, but what you did know was that she stuck to Eren like glue. You didn't ask, so they didn't tell. As time went on, Mikasa was a solid part of your little group of friends. All four of you grew up together, going to the same school and hanging out everyday.

One day, near the end of your elementary years, you started feeling weird around Eren. When you were around him, you felt a little too happy, warmth rushed to your cheeks when he smiled at you, he was so damn cute when he pouted and you would get giddy when he was being extra confident. During your second year of middle school, those feelings of yours increased and you were convinced that you had a crush on one of your best friends. You went to Armin and Mikasa for advice on what you should do if you like someone, but they both came to the same answer: just tell them you like them.

It wasn't that simple.

You ran multiple scenarios in your head, but a bunch of them ended in rejection. You've never seen Eren take an interest in anyone, let alone a boy. You were afraid that if you told him, your friendship would change or even worse, become nonexistent! That terrified you. There's no way you were going to risk it and you made Mikasa and Armin promise you that they won't tell him either. They promised. You kept your crush hidden, even after the four of entered high school. That was when Eren started taking an interest in girls. Going over his house one day, you and Armin were hanging out in his room, while waiting for Mikasa to come home from her after school activities. Eren suddenly said he had something to show you two and busted out a porno magazine, surpring both you and Armin. There were a couple of girls in there that he seemed to take a fancy to, which only further proved that Eren is interested in the opposite sex. There was no way he would ever like you romantically.

"Just drop it, Mikasa..." you groaned one day after she dragged you to her room to speak privately about your crush.

"He has a right to know." she insisted.

"He doesn't like men, Mikasa. He likes woman!"

"He speaks highly of you, you know."

"Of course he does, we're friends. He speaks highly of all his friends."

"Y/n..."

You sighed, sinking into her soft mattress.

"Just forget it. He's not interested, it's fine. I'm happy to just be able to hang out like we always have."

Mikasa sighed. There was no budging you from a decision you have already made.

One day after classes, you and Eren met up to walk home together, Armin has entered the committee team and had a meeting after school, while Mikasa had her after school club, leaving you and Eren to walk home with each other. Opening up your shoe locker, a baby blue envelope tumbled out and fell to the floor. Confused, you picked it up, Eren looking over your shoulder to also see. Looking at it front to back, there was no name on it besides yours on the front and you came to the conclusion that this was either a threat letter—which you could find no reason to receive one of those—or a love letter. You don't really get into fights...You have, however, entered altercations. Your athletic status had caught the attention of some girls and with those girls came the jealousy of other males. Those young men would come to you and start a ruckus.

You grimly came to the conclusion that it may, in fact, be a threat letter.

"Are you going to open it?" Eren asked, waiting to see what was inside.

"Should I?" you timidly asked. "What if it's a threat letter?"

"Then, I'll tear it up and find the bastards who want to fight."

Protective as ever. A small smile settled on your lips.

"Eren, you know that won't solve anything."

"Of course it will."

You shook your head. You and your big mouth, now you're riling him up without meaning to. There's only one way to find out exactly what was in this envelope, so you carefully ripped it open and read the letter inside.

This.

"It's a love letter." you muttered in surprise after you finished reading it.

"A what?!" Eren reeled back.

"Someone put a lot of thought into this..." you muttered once more.

You can tell that whoever wrote this put thought behind what they wrote. There's no way you can just read it and walk away, not after reading such a heartfelt confession.

"What, are we in a shoujo manga?" Eren scowled.

"Aw, you jealous, Yeager?" you smirked up at him, waving the letter teasingly.

"As if!" he sneered.

He tried to snatch the letter from you, but you quickly pulled away, folded it and shoved it into your pocket. No way are you letting him touch it. Eren scoffed, a displeased frown on his face as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I have to answer them. Whoever they are."

"You don't have to." Eren muttered.

You shot him a confused expression mixed with worry, having caught what he said.

"Eren..?"

"Just go!" he spat. "They're waiting for you, aren't they?"

You stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what has him so agitated all of a sudden, when a sense of nervousness filled you.

"I don't want to go alone..."

At the sound of your shy voice, Eren looked at you to find you staring at him expectantly. Eren sighed, rubbing the back of his head. He put a hand on your shoulder, looking you right in the eyes.

"Man up." he said, but you knew he was going with you.

With a nervous smile, you started towards where the letter said this person would be waiting. After walking around the school's yard and rounding the corner you saw a girl with her head down, her gray eyes looking at the dirt beneath her while fidgeting. This girl, you recognized her from somewhere, but you can't quite put your finger on it. She had thick, black hair that was parted in the middle and styled in low, loose pigtails that reached a little past her shoulders. Her skin was light and fair. You found her to be pretty cute.

You simply stood at the corner, watching her fidget. You were nervous beyond belief, especially now that you were looking at her. Eren nudged you forward and when you looked at him over your shoulder, he signaled for you to go with a jerk of his head toward the girl. Right. This is where he stays behind and you go to face her alone. This is a private and personal conversation, after all...Walking closer to her, she finally looked up, her shoulders tense when she saw you. She looked just as nervous as you did, which actually made you feel a bit better. At least you weren't the only one. Standing in front of her, you silently looked at her for a moment before reaching into your pocket and showing her the folded piece of paper.

"Did you write this love letter?"

The girl, seemingly too nervous to speak, simply nodded her head, averting her eyes. Goddesses, she really was cute. You didn't deserve her lovely love letter.

"I feel really bad asking you, but what's your name?"

"D-Don't feel bad. I don't blame you! My name is Mina Carolina."

"Carolina..."

"J-Just Mina is fine..."

"Ok, Mina...You wrote this beautifully. I feel honored to have received it."

Mina's cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. She's getting cuter, how is this even possible?

"Goddesses, you're just so cute...!" you muttered, but she must have heard you, because she hid her face in her hands. You have a feeling you had just made her blush harder. You rubbed the back of your head. "Ah, dammit..."

You took a moment to steel yourself, looking away for moment. When you looked back at her, you found her staring at you and for some reason, her expression made you blush. You might just have to rip off this band-aid.

"Thank you so much for telling me your feelings...but I'm not into girls...I'm so sorry!"

You bowed low and you heard her breath hitch. You swear to the Goddesses, if she cries, you will cry along with her.

"N-Not into girls...?"

You shook your head, still in your bowing position. "I'm gay."

"...I-I see..." you heard her say.

Taking a peak, you saw her eyes watering and you instantly panicked.

"N-No, please, I'm so sorry! Don't cry!" You wanted to reach out and hug her or maybe rub her back; you didn't know! Just...something to calm her down! "Ah, I feel so bad, 'cause you're so cute!"

You reached out and took her hand, making her look at you. You stared into her eyes, with a serious expression.

"This love letter you wrote, it's wasted on me. You deserve someone who's willing to sweep you off your feet, not someone like me, who panics because you were about to cry." you let go of her hand to hold out the folded love letter to her. "Please, take this, save it and give it to the guy who will sweep you off feet. I'm very sorry."

"I-It's OK..." she softly spoke, gently taking the letter from you.

"I know now may be too early, but I hope to become friends with you in the future."

Mina smiled. A sad smile, you noted, but you tried to look past that, offering her a smile of your own.

"Yes." she replied. "I would like that."

You nodded and waited for her to walk away before you did the same, sniffling when you rounded the corner.

"How did it go?" Eren's voice slightly surprised you.

With how irritated he was, you were sure he was going to leave you behind, so you were a bit surprised he was still there, but also relieved. You whimpered, quickly going up to him and embracing him.

"She was so cute!" you practically sobbed.

Eren sighed, rubbing your back. This cry-baby side of you never grew up.

"If she was cute, why are you crying?" he asked.

"Because I had to reject her!" you wailed. You pulled back, rubbing at your eyes and sniffling.

"Jeez." Eren rubbed the back of his head. "Stop blubbering." he reached for your face, cupping both your cheeks in his hands.

You stared at him in slight confusion, then felt him rub your tears away with his thumbs. You shut your eyes, so he didn't accidentally poke them and opened them when he started to pull away.

"Come on." he took your hand. "Let's go home already."

With a slightly flushed face, you silently let him lead you away from school.

"Thanks, Eren." you finally said when you two were close enough to see your houses.

"For what?"

"For always being there for me."

_I__ love you._ You wanted to say, but you knew he didn't view you like that. He saw you as one of his best friends. He once told you that if he had to, he'd protect you with his life, but you knew that he'd also do that for Armin and he even implied that he had done that for Mikasa (Something that you didn't doubt he'd do, but you couldn't imagine something like that actually happening). You both stood at the divide of your houses, you expecting him to let go of your hand and tell you a version of "See you later." as he always does, but he instead stared at you while still holding your hand.

You didn't think much of it, holding hands. He started doing that when you were both young, one of the first times you started playing with him. At this point, it was habit, something you might have to break eventually. Doing that as two grown men is going to be a little awkward. Right now, what you minded was the fact that he was staring at you with an unreadable expression, but you couldn't help but stare back. Goddesses, his eyes were such a brilliant shade of green...

He suddenly snapped out of whatever he was thinking about, letting your hand go and turning in the direction of his home.

"Coming over later?" he asked.

"Yeah." You weren't planning on it, but you knew you would eventually come over, as you did just about every day.

You watched as he nodded and didn't say anything else, simply walking to the front door of his house and closing the door behind him.  
~*~  
You lay belly down on Eren's bed with your homework in front of you as Eren sat at his desk set up, his homework also in front of him. You were both studying together, occasionally asking each other questions about the subject you were working on. Eventually, Mikasa joined you, finding it comforting to study with the both of you.

Eren was being suspiciously quiet. Sure, he's not usually a loud person, unless he's irritated or mad, but he's been like this since you separated earlier after walking home together. Mikasa seemed to sense that something was up with him and when she turned to you with a raised eyebrow, you sent her a quizzical look and a shrug. The three of you finished all your homework, helping each other along the way. On her way out, Mikasa placed a hand on Eren's shoulder, giving him a supporting look, while you busied yourself with putting your books and homework in your backpack. Eren nodded at her and she left, closing the door behind her. The silence between you two started to become stuffy, you slowly realized and looked at Eren when you finished filing everything away. You found him staring at you, which surprised you. Exactly how long had he been staring at you? Just the thought of him possibly staring at you the whole time while you were putting your stuff away made you blush a little.

"Was that girl really that cute?" Eren finally spoke, his voice startling against the silence.

"I think she was." you answered. "Her name is Mina Carolina."

Silence settled in again, but it was uncomfortable this time. However, you pushed that aside to face the problem at hand.

"Eren, what's been bothering you? I mean, you've been mad since I got Mina's letter."

"I'm not mad." Eren huffed.

You noticed his ears get a little pink, so you stared at him with a raised eyebrow and an expression that said you don't believe him.

"You know your ears turn red when you're lying."

Eren didn't answer and didn't look at you either.

"What is it, Eren? Something's obviously bothering you!" 

"It's no big deal. Just drop it."

Silence once again fell between the two of you. What the hell? What isn't he telling you? You're friends, aren't you? Why isn't he confiding in you, like you do with him. Getting irritated, you stood, taking your bag with you.

"Fine." you said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Are you mad now?" Eren asked incredulously.

You didn't answer, simply walking to the door. You got as far as gripping the door handle before Eren grabbed your shoulder and pulled you back. You let out a grunt of surprise, turning to face him.

"Man, what?!"

"I asked you a question!"

"And I chose not to answer!" you turned, trying to pull the door open, but Eren put his hand beside you, closing the door once more. "Yeager!"

Turning, you pulled back in surprise, not noticing how close he had gotten. Even when pressing yourself to the door, he was unbearably close. He rested his forearm on the door, leaning in a bit further and looming over you with an intense look in his eyes, but you stared back, not backing down.

"You _are_ angry, Yeager."

"Because you pissed me off, L/n."

"_I_ pissed you off?! You're the one keeping secrets!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"We're friends, aren't we? Just tell me what the hell is bothering you!"

Eren scoffed, averting your eyes.

"Eren!" you insisted.

"That stupid love letter!" he blurted, his answer catching you by surprise. "You read it and you met her! You could have just ignored it, but you didn't! You didn't have to meet her!"

"...What the hell?" you said after finding your voice from the initial surprise. "Do you know how cruel that would have been? That was the least I could do for her! I couldn't just leave her waiting there!"

"Yes, you could have!" Eren seemed to get more irritated.

"You are unbelievable, Eren Yeager! How would you have felt if someone did that to you?! Or me?! Or Mikasa, Armin?! That's cruel, Eren..." your voice softened toward the end of your argument.

Eren scowled, proving you right. He _wouldn't_ have liked that, especially not if it happened to either of his friends.

"She mustered up her courage and told me how she felt, the least I could do is meet her and tell how I felt, too..." you softly finished.

You could practically feel Eren's irritation ebbing away a little at the sound of your soft voice. He hung his head and you knew that meant that you won this argument. Glancing at his face, you had a thought and his annoyance suddenly made sense.

"Were you jealous?"

The boy visibly stiffened, and you took his tense demeanor as an answer. He sputtered for a moment, looking you right in the eyes. He opened his mouth and you just _knew_ he was going to try to deny it.

"Yes, you were." you beat him to it. "You were jealous!"

"Shut up!" he finally spit out. "Why would I be jealous?!"

"Hell if I know, but you definitely were!"

"You're so stupid!" he finally pulled himself away from you and turned away. "Go home!"

"That's what I was trying to do before you stopped me." you retorted and he scoffed again.

You picked up your bag, which you had dropped when he surprised you, and slung it onto one of your shoulders, before finally exiting his room.

"See you tomorrow, Jealous Mary~"

The only answer you got back was his bedroom door closing behind you with a little more force than you're sure he meant.

"See you tomorrow, Aunt Carla!" you said on your way to the front door.

"Did you finish your studies?"

"Sure did! It's so much easier with Eren and Mikasa's help."

"Good. Here," Carla showed you a pie that she has just made. "Take this home and share it with your parents, will you?"

"Wow, this looks delicious! Thanks, Aunt Carla!"

"You're welcome! It's still hot, so be careful!"

"I will. Bye!" you said and Carla helped you by opening the front door for you, then closing the door behind you when you stepped out.  
~*~  
Mikasa knocked on Eren's door. She entered anyway, not hearing a sound as she waited for him to let her in. She found Eren face down on his bed, his face buried in his pillow.

"Eren?" Mikasa called.

Eren turned his head to look at her, but it was obvious he was still in thought. Mikasa kneeled beside him to look at him eye to eye.

"...I think I like him."

"I hope so. He's one of our best friends."

"More than that." Eren sighed, pausing before speaking again. "I really was jealous."

"You should tell him."

"Yeah..."

Mikasa offered him a small smile for moral support, then stood up straight. She knew he'll find his own way to tell you, without her help. Mikasa crossed the room and stood at the door frame.

"Good night, Eren."

"Yeah, good night." Eren's voice was muffled by his pillow as he had dug his face into it once more.

* * *

You were surprised to see Eren waiting for you in the morning as he always does, along with Mikasa. You figured that you pissed him off enough that he wouldn't wait for you, yet here he was. You offered him a smile, but he averted his eyes and started walking. So much for him not being mad...Glancing at Mikasa, she shot you a knowing smile and you shot her a slight confused expression. What was that for? Without answering, Mikasa followed after Eren, hurrying her steps to catch up to him and you followed suit, thoroughly confused.  
~*~  
"I don't get it."

You conversed with Armin at lunch about how you felt this morning, lunch being one of the only times during school you get to see him as he's in a different class than you. 

"She knows something that you don't." he said looking at Eren and Mikasa who sat at a different table.

That was a strange thing to do. You, Eren, Mikasa and Armin had always ate together if you could. To find that Eren had distanced himself felt so odd. Mikasa seemed to be having a long conversation with him.

"She does?" you asked, following his eyes.

"I'm positive." Armin said as Mikasa shot him a glance.

You saw him smile, which confused you. What was he smiling about? Did they just have a silent conversation in that single glance?

"Anyway, don't worry. Everything will start making sense soon."

"I hope so." you replied.

Armin offered a reassuring smile. You really hoped so. It was almost lonely, not having those two around.

After school, you waited for Eren to be ready to walk out of class together as you always did to walk home together. Mikasa and Armin would have also joined your walk home if she didn't have her after school activity and if he didn't have the school council work to worry over. You and Eren will once again be walking home alone together. Eren barely looked at you, nevermind spoke to you for half the walk. You noticed he seemed to be in thought and he was walking slower than usual.

"Hey, Eren?" he didn't respond at all, but you figured he was listening, so you continued. "I don't know what's been going on with you, but if there's anything I can do, just let me know, okay?"

Eren seemed to have heard you, so you settled with that. After a moment of silence, however,

"You could kiss me."

You were right, he did hear you. The surprise of his words made you stop in your tracks. Did you hear him right?

"What?"

Without missing a beat, "I said you could kiss me."

"But— Hold on...?"

You were tongue tied, your words refusing to come out right. Eren closed the gap between you two, getting uncomfortably close, even leaning in a bit. You don't know what came over him, but you noticed he was serious through the whole day. Eren's usually a serious and blunt person, but to be _this _serious and blunt...

"You want to help, right? Then, kiss me."

"Wha— H-Here?"

"Not a good place?" he straightened up, then took your hand, walking with a fast pace.

"E-Eh?!"

He didn't utter another word, basically dragging you along to Goddesses knows where. You were in disbelief. You thought Eren was into girls, what was going through his head right now? You both quickly arrived to your homes, but he quickly pulled you into his.

"Eren." you called as he pulled you up the stairs toward the bedrooms.

He remained silent, pulling into his room. Once inside, he shrugged off his school bag and pushed you up against his door before you had a chance to speak, your school bag sliding off your shoulder. He boxed you in with his body, leaning in so, so close, you could feel his breath fan against your lips.

"E-Eren..." you squeaked.

"I was jealous." he spoke softly, looking into your eyes. "You met that girl...I thought you were going to accept her."

"Really? How many times have you ever seen me show an interest in any girl?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"That I'm gay? Eren, have you _seen_ me?"

"No." Eren closed the gap between your bodies, his chest touching yours. "That you liked me."

Your face instantly flushed, your mouth gaping like a fish. Did Mikasa tell him?!

"H-How did you find out?"

"Just now."

"W-What...?"

"You just told me. Oldest trick in the book and you fell for it."

"Yeager, what the f—!"

Eren interrupted your growing irritation by pressing his lips against yours. You gasped against his mouth, but he didn't take the opportunity to deepen the kiss. He pulled away a brief moment after and you, once again, gaped like a fish.

"I don't want you to be taken by anyone else." Eren confessed.

Your face felt so hot, you felt like you could faint. Then, suddenly, you felt relieved, your watering eyes blurring up your vision. Eren's expression softened as he noticed your watery eyes.

"Y/n..." he called your name softly, pulling away enough to cup your face.

"I-I've liked you for so long..."

"You're such a cry-baby."

"S-Shut up!"

He chuckled, the vibration reaching your very soul, then he leaned in again and this time, you didn't hesitate to kiss back, wrapping your arms around him to pull in impossibly closer. Eren turned his head and deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue passed your willing lips, turning it into a make out session. You wrapped your arms around his neck, while his hands traveled down to rest on your hips and you felt him smile against you after you let slip a small moan. Finally, he broke the kiss, catching your lips on the way in a playful nibble. If that session didn't leave your head spinning, that nibble definitely did. Where did he learn to kiss so well? You gazed up at him in a slight gaze and he chuckled at your expression, giving you a kiss on your forehead before finally letting you go. Your flushed complexion and dazed expression made him want to kiss your puffy lips again, but he kept himself in check as he thought that perhaps he should slow down, picking up your school bag from the floor and putting it next to his bed.

"What now...?" you muttered.

Eren turned to look at you, obviously hearing you. You were asking yourself more than him, so him turning to answer you make you stiffen up.

"Now, you're mine." he said as-a-matter-of-fact. You didn't think you could blush any more, but you think you might have. "I just told you I won't let anyone else have you."

"So, does that mean that...?" _That we're going out now?_

"You really have to ask?"

That's a "yes" if you ever heard one!

"I just wanted to make sure..."

"Are you going to keep standing by the door?"

You haven't moved an inch and being called out for it, embarrassed you yet again. You quickly moved to take your usual place when you were in his room, sitting on his bed.

"I'm having trouble with english." Eren spoke after a moment of silence, the only quiet sounds were from you moving about.

Business as usual, eh? Well, you can't be embarrassed about this forever. Time to start getting over it.

"You're always having trouble with english." you playfully teased back, moving to grab your books and homework from your bag.

"It's not my fault that you and Mikasa are geniuses when it comes to English!" he complained, taking out his books and homework and setting it on his study desk.

"We're not geniuses, Eren, _we_ pay attention in class."

"I _do_ pay attention!" he turned to you, lightly scowling.

"Oh, yeah, snoring in class is a _great_ way to show you're paying attention." you playfully rolled your eyes.

Suddenly, he pushed you down on his bed, hovering over you. Looking at his face, you started laughing at his not-amused expression: a soured, yet exaggerated pout that somehow always made you laugh when you saw it. Your laugh seemed to ease his irritation and he looked at you with a soft expression. You looked at him when you calmed down, looking into his eyes. They really were a brilliant color...

He leaned down, locking his lips with yours once more and you immediately responded in kind. You don't know how much time had passed when you finally pulled apart, but you were breathless. Where _did_ he learn how to kiss so well? Somehow, you felt like it would be an embarrassing conversation to have with him or maybe he would be proud about it? It could honestly go either way with Eren.

"We should get started on our homework." you whispered.

"I think I want to stay like this a while longer." Eren replied softly.

"Eren..."

Eren maneuvered himself to lay beside you. Shaking your head, you started to move to grab your books and homework from your bag, but Eren pulled you back down with a tug on your arm, pulling you against his chest and effectively spooning you.

"Wha—" you yelped in surprise.

"Stay..."

"Come on, Yeager...We have—"

"Let me hold you." Eren muttered, burying his face into the crook of your neck. You quieted, blushing.

You two have just confessed to each other and he's already so touchy-feely. Then again, until recently, Eren was always touching you from hugging to holding hands.

"You always smell good." Eren muttered.

"Did you say 'always'?"

Eren nuzzled your shoulder as a response.

"Y'know..." you started to say after a moment of silence, but hesitated, biting your bottom lip. "...I thought you were into woman..."

"I am." Eren muttered against your shoulder.

"But, you like me, too?"

"I do."

You took a moment to think. Did he also like men, or was it just a you thing?

"I'm into both." Eren said after watching the wheels in your head roll around.

"Wait, really?" you turned slightly to look at him. "Since when? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Since always, I guess? I didn't realize it until recently."

"How did you find out?"

"Besides finding you hot as hell?" he smirked.

"I don't count, Yeager. I'm so hot, even straight guys want me." you smirked back.

"Oh my Goddess." he muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes.

You laughed as he pulled your back to his chest again, putting you in your previous position. You simply lay with him, letting him snuggle into you and felt him plant kisses on your neck and shoulder occasionally, you letting out a contented sigh. After a long while, you decided on getting to work and thinking on possibly going back to cuddling after you were finished.

"We should really start on that homework now." you said softly, waiting on a response that never came. "Eren?"

You managed to glance back, only to find the brunette asleep.

"Wha—" you squeaked, incredulously. "Eren, we have work."

You wiggled in his arms, trying to both wake him up and get yourself unlodged from his grasp. Unsurprisingly, he hugged you tightly against him. That, you knew would happen, it was something that you noticed he did in his sleep early on in your friendship with him. What you didn't know was how strong he would be. You couldn't seem to get out of his grasp. It wasn't like you were weak, far from it, really. Athletically, you were at your peak, however, so was Eren. Not only was he taller then you, he, apparently was much stronger than you, something that you now found unfair. 

"Eren." you called. "Wake up."

You tried to push his arms off of you, which earned you a huff from the sleeping young man.

"We have work." you tried once more, but he simply settled his face into the crook of your neck. "Yeager!"

"Mn..."

"Hey..."

"Tired..." he finally mumbled, his voice groggy and deep from sleep. You rather enjoyed this tone from him, but now wasn't the time to admire that.

"Eren."

"Sleep..."

"But—"

"Sleep." he said more urgently.

His hand that rested on your stomach, traveled up to your chest and settled there. Between that, his other arm under you that held you in place, plus his strength, you were trapped. Finally, you gave up, huffing in irritation. Looks like that work will have to wait until later.  
~*~  
"Yeager residence." Carla said after she picked up the phone. "Ah, M/n, hello! Did you like the pie I sent with Y/n?"

"_It was delicious, thank you!" _your mother enthusiastically replied._ "I'll have to make you something as thanks!"_

"It was no problem at all!"

"_By the way, is my Y/n over? He was supposed to come for dinner, that silly boy."  
_

"I believe he is, hold for a moment."

Carla headed up the stairs to the bedrooms, but stopped seeing Mikasa, who seemed to have just left her brother's room. 

"Mikasa. Is Y/n in there?"

"They're sleeping." she nodded.

"Sleeping?" Carla decided to check for herself, peeked inside and had to keep herself from cooing at the sight.

You were comfortably huddled into Eren, an arm draped around him with your face nestled against his chest as Eren's arms held you against him. You were both sleeping peacefully. Quietly, Carla closed the door, nodding a silent thank you to Mikasa, who nodded back and turned to go into her room, her's right across Eren's.

"Hello, M/n? It seems he fell asleep. You don't mind if he sleeps over, do you? I don't have the heart to wake him up."

_"He's sleeping next to Eren, isn't he? It's about time he told him! I don't mind at all! Oh, would you mind sharing the recipe for that pie?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about time.
> 
> My working on your requests is resumed immediately! Thank you again for your patience!


	12. Krista x Male!Reader - Picture Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asperger Hero requested a Male!Reader on a road trip with Krista!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had finished this request this morning, but I felt like it needed a bit more, so I kept writing and writing here and there throughout the day.
> 
> But I didn't want to keep this request from you and keep adding to it when it was technically done! (And believe me, if I don't post it now, I'll just keep adding to it!)
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes! I hope you enjoy!

_Chaos._

_People were screaming, running away in a wild panic. You had to get away. Giant, humanoid monsters were eating any human they come across. People were dying, your mind registered blood splatters and people crushed under boulders that had rained down around you as your heart pounded in your ears. You ran into a narrow space between two houses, hoping that the tiny space would protect you from your predators._

_Bzzt, bzzt, their footsteps thundered closer. Bzzt, bzz—_

_Thud!_

** _"Ow!"_ **

Falling from your bed and hitting the floor never hurt so bad. Your phone was vibrating violently on your night stand, since you had vibrate on it's highest mode. The fall to your bedroom floor woke you up plenty, so you groaned and groggily picked up your now throbbing body off the floor, dragging yourself and your blanket to your bathroom.

That dream had haunted you since you entered high school. By the fifth time you had it, you were convinced that it must have been a past life because of how vivid it was; how horrified you felt, how panicked you were. At first, you lost sleep over it, too afraid of where the dream would take you next. Over time, however, you grew numb to the panic and fear, simply expecting the dream when you went to sleep. You wouldn't have it every night, but you had it often enough to expect it. In your high school years there were certain people who you gravitated toward without having met or known them. The strangest part was when you interacted with these people, more of your hellish dream would open up, featuring the new friend you interacted with.

One of those people was your roommate.

When you were done with the bathroom and were in the middle of dressing yourself, your roommate knocked on your door.

"Y/n? Are you up?"

"Yup. Getting dressed!" you called back.

"Just making sure!"

Ah, the ever kind hearted Krista. You honestly don't know where you'd be without her. You weren't a morning person in the slightest, so if it weren't for your kind roommate, you would have missed a lot of important opportunities. However, this time it wasn't your fault! You were far too excited about this trip, you couldn't, for the life of you, fall asleep last night.

After getting dressed, you headed to the kitchen and found Krista plating some scrambled eggs.

"What's this?" you ask, rearranging your shirt.

"We can't head out on an empty stomach, right?"

You stare at her angelic face for a moment, then looked at the two plates holding a simple breakfast: scrambled eggs and buttered toast. She even set out jam. It wasn't a feast, sure, but this still meant that she had gotten up earlier than the agreed time, got dressed _and made breakfast!_ Meanwhile, _you_ almost overslept.

"Be my wife?" you asked, taking a carton of orange juice out of the fridge so you can _at least_ pour her some juice.

"Y/n~"

You laughed at her exasperation. A joke, of course, and she knows it's a joke, yet she always seems exasperated when you ask her and you always get a kick out of it.

"Seriously speaking, thanks." you said, sitting down after pouring juice for the both of you.

"It's just a simple breakfast."

She acts like it's not big deal, but it is to you. She put in the extra effort to make sure you both had something in your stomachs. When you both finished eating, you volunteered to wash the dishes, it was only two plates, two cups and two silverware, after all. Krista went off to maybe put on her finishing touches, you assumed. She met you outside by the car when she finished, where you were putting the last of what you wanted to bring into the back seat of the car, along with the camping equipment you had packed and put into the car the night before.

"We have all of our equipment, right?" Krista asked.

"Yup. In the trunk and the glove compartment. Want to double check?" you replied, already opening the trunk for her.

Your and her luggages were packed neatly on the floor of the trunk and safely stacked on top was the camera equipment. The equipment was a simple stand for your more powerful camera and the camera itself. You and Krista also had your own portable cameras which you had put in the glove compartment.

"We're ready to go." Krista stated happily, after checking both the trunk and the glove compartment.

"Aye, aye." you cheerfully replied, climbing into the driver's seat.

You waited until you were both seat belted in, then you turned on the ignition and pulled out of the driveway.

_'Road trip here we come!'_ you thought excitedly.

You were looking forward to this trip for a long time. Ever since the idea was first brought up three months ago. The two of you ultimately didn't make up your minds of where you wanted to go or even how far you were going. You felt like you were just going to drive anywhere and when you both feel like you had the perfect photo, you would head back home. Sounded like a plan in your head.

Krista was the one who pitched the idea in the first place. She saw that it looked like you were losing motivation, which you most definitely were. Photography was your passion as well as your livelihood. You needed it to pay your half of the shared bills and while the pay was good, you were slowly starting to lose your steam. You needed something to refresh you, something that wasn't being the photographer for weddings, birthday parties, or baby showers. Krista came to the thought that you needed a small escape, you needed to see a little bit of the world. 

_"Let's go on a road trip."_ Krista had suddenly suggested after knocking on your bedroom door one day while you were readying what you needed for your next client at the time.

So, you finished your existing line of clients and didn't accept anymore in preparation for this trip. The trip that Krista had thought up because she was thinking of you. You smiled to yourself, thanking the Goddesses above for having the fortune to have met Krista.

"What is it?" Krista asked, having watched a smile grow on your face.

"You are the angel I never asked for."

"Y/n..." she whined.

You chuckled. "Thank you. I would have never thought of taking a trip like this."

"You looked like you needed it and it sounded like a fun idea at the time."

"It is." your smiled widened. "Let's make the most of this."

Krista, with her own wide smile, nodded. "Agreed."

You had drove for a couple of hours when you arrived to the next city. Agreeing with Krista about being hungry, you entered the drive-thru of a fast food place, got a bite to eat and took the time to stretch your legs before hopping back in the car and continuing on the way. By the time evening rolled by, you were out of the city and driving by flat grasslands and farm lands.

And the sunset view was beautiful.

"This is perfect." you excitedly said.

You got out of your car, had the genius idea to climb onto the roof of your car and took the shot with your portable camera.

"Be careful...!" Krista fussed as you were readying yourself to get down.

"'M fine." you smiled at her, carefully sliding down the side of the car. "See? Bet my back's dirty now, though."

Krista took a moment to check and it sure was. She took a moment to brush off you off, managing to get rid of some of the dirt.

"Want to stay out for a little bit? The open air here is nice." you offered, wanting to just watch the sunset.

Sleeping in the car is going to be rough, but it's nothing you both can't handle. Krista opted to sit in the back seat of the car with the door open as you pulled out a collapsible camping chair from the trunk and a drink from the cooler you had in the back. This is most relaxed you had been in a long while. The sunset, a cold drink, some background music and a good friend to drink and chat with you. You even took a couple more pictures, just to have a time-lapse of the setting sun.

"We should go camping." you found yourself softly saying to yourself.

"We're on a road trip." Krista replied. "Technically we're also camping."

"No, I mean camping on it's own." you said, letting out a contented sigh. "You're right, but I want to have a separate outing together in the future. Maybe even bring a few friends with us."

"That sounds like fun. Next time we have a chance, let's do it!"

You nodded and calmly finished your drink before getting up, putting your chair away, pulling out small pillows and blankets for sleep later, then climbing back into your car. You drove for another hour or so before you decided it was time to sleep, also noting that Krista was falling asleep. You turned the car off and got out, making space in the back seats for Krista to lay down at least. You woke her up enough to get her to the back and made sure she was laying down and comfortable, then you hopped back into the driver's seat, pushed the seat into a more laying down position without disturbing Krista and went to sleep yourself. The next morning, you woke up to find Krista already up and running. 

"Good morning!" she greeted, handing you a bottle of water, a tiny tube of toothpaste and your tooth brush.

Goddesses above, you didn't think to pack a tooth brush. Krista, however, packed one for you. You once again found yourself thanking the heavens that Krista was with you. You were sure that everything you hadn't thought about bringing, she brought. As you were brushing your teeth, she reminded you to also brush your hair. Thinking back, you were sure you didn't pack your hair brush, either. You both ate some leftovers for breakfast and you continued on. Along the way, you bought extra food every chance you got, making sure you two had enough food in case you didn't happen upon a city or town by the time either of you got hungry.

After sleeping in the car for two days, you two agreed on a hotel room in next city or town, doing that as soon as you entered the city. Wanting to actually eat out and not eat fast food, you both agreed to try out the local restaurants, managing to pick one that wasn't too expensive. You had a great time, some great food and took in some local sights afterwards. You'd both returned to your shared hotel room in the early evening, tired yet brimming with joy. This day through town had been so much fun.

The following hours of driving and two more days of camping in your car were spend in killing your growing boredoms with hype music and car games, then at night, you would both sit outside in the open air, enjoy the sunset together, and compete over who can tell the best horror story (your idea, you found Krista's scared reactions to those types of things adorable) before retreating back into the car to sleep. Eventually, you both happened upon some strange ruins. You had a sudden strong feeling that something here would make the perfect shot, the shot that would ignite your passion so brilliantly, it would be as if it never wavered in the first place. You couldn't continue with your car as a particularly large hill blocked the path, so you took your main camera and your camera stand and hiked up the rest of the way, Krista following close behind you.

"Do you feel that?" you asked as you hiked. "I _know_ this place will give us the best shot."

"I feel it." Krista replied. "There's a strong sense here, but I can't seem to put a name to it."

"It's intense, and..." you stopped, realizing that you needed to take a breather. You hadn't noticed that you had started climbing faster and faster. "I feel like I'm supposed to be here."

"Yes. Like I've been here before."

The large hill gave way to a vertical pathway that must be a part of the buried ruins that was poking out above ground. At some point, you had needed help with your equipment as the climb seemed to get a bit steep. Krista offered to carry your camera stand as you had refused when she offered to carry anything else. It took the rest of the afternoon for you to get a whiff of sea water. Excitedly, you turned and gave a happy, wide smile to Krista, then hurrying to the top of the ruins. A stretch of land, then a large stretch of ocean lay out before you. In the distance, you can vaguely make out what seemed to be an island. You stared at the scene as Krista caught up with you, standing next to you.

A quick sense of nostalgia over took you and you recognized that as a possible new memory unlocking. Very soon, you will have your recurring dream and there was no denying it will be about this place. As the wind blew against you, tousling your and Krista's hair, you had a sense of something blowing in the wind behind you, although you had nothing on you that could do that. You imagined it could possibly be a cape of some sort?

Coming out of your trance, you stole a glance at Krista, and nearly had your breath stolen away.

The expression on Krista's face was thoughtful, yet it also looked as if she was remembering a fond memory. Then, a small smile formed on her lips. The sun hit her just right, her silky hair looking almost glowing white as it floated with the wind. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, looking almost crystal blue.

There. Right there.

Quickly, you readied your camera, moving back slowly as to not disturb her. You positioned the shot so that the land and the ocean can also be seen in the background and you took it.

That was the perfect shot. The proof that she might actually be an angel is captured through your camera lens. You looked to the island again and once again got a sense of nostalgia, but you also felt slightly out of place.

_There should be more people standing with you, shouldn't there?_

You put your hand in your pocket, palming a small box you had been keeping stashed away while you searched for the perfect moment. Before your nerves want to start up, you decided it was now or never.

"Krista." you called softly, your voice seemed to get her out of the trance she seemed to be in. "Will you marry me?"

You knew what she was going to do. You would ask some sort of version of marrying her, she would complain and you would laugh, sometimes even apologize. It was all in good fun, but this time was different.

"Y/n..." she started in a whine, just as you thought she would. "Why do you always joke about that?"

"I'm not joking." By the time she looked at you, not expecting that answer, you had already taken the small box out your pocket. "Not this time, anyway."

You closed the distance between you two, while opening the small box. Showing her the engagement ring you had picked out, you smiled as you watched her expression change from wonder, to realization, to embarrassment, red caressing her cheeks.

"I wouldn't be anywhere if it weren't for you, let alone here. I would be lost without you, in every sense of the word." you surprised yourself with how easy the words tumbled out of your mouth. You hadn't prepared a speech, always pushing the thought to the back of your mind for later, but this moment seemed too perfect to pass up. Instead, you just said what was in your heart. "You're my everything. Would you please be my forever?"

Tears softly rolled down her cheeks. Your expression softened, taking in her expression. Goddesses, she's just as beautiful when she's crying.

"Promise me..." she started wiping at her tears on her cheeks. "That you'll stop asking me to marry you."

"Pff!" You couldn't help but laugh. You're both engaged now, there was no point in asking.

Taking the ring out of it's box, you held your hand out for her to place her hand on. Her hand was slightly shaking, perhaps from the strong, rolling emotions jumping around just beneath the surface. You gently held her hand steady, slipping the ring on. You're so glad you remembered what her ring size was from one of the times you joined her on a trip to the mall. She had looked through a shelf full of rings and had wondered what her ring size was. When you released her hand, you watched as she stared at the ring, awe and joy lacing her expression.

The sun was now starting to set, so you suggested heading back to the car, before it got too dark. You both carefully made your way down and by the time you made it, night had fallen. You were much to elated to sleep, so you proceeded to start the drive back home. Two days in, you were driving through the last town you had been in and remembered the perfect church that you encountered last time you passed by.

"Krista."

"Yes?"

"Let's get married right now!"

"Y/n, you promised!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You promised.
> 
> But you didn't. xD
> 
> It ended up in romance. I'm not sure if this is what you meant, Asperger Hero, but I hope you liked it anyway!
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	13. Armin x Reader - Catch up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> StarrAnise requested a college AU in which Reader struggles with school and Armin comforts them!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the request! I decided to make Reader gender neutral, so they-their pronouns. I'm sorry it's a bit on the short side.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes! I hope you enjoy!

You cursed yourself for a stupid decision. The forecast talked about a light rain shower, so you thought it wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have your umbrella.

The forecast lied.

It was more than a light shower and you were drenched by the time you made it to class. After your classes, the sun was out again, but by then the damage was done and despite getting out of your cold, wet clothes as fast as you could when you entered your dorm and taking a warm shower, you still got sick a day later. Your boyfriend, Armin Arlert, who was also your dorm roommate, stayed with you and helped you get better, as well as helped you with school work you might have missed. As stubborn and proud as you are, you usually don't like to accept help, but in this case, you appreciated it only because you were stuck in bed. However, as time went on, you slowly but surely started to fall behind and by the time you were able to attend classes again, you were slightly lost on what was going on. You, who were usually done with their work and in bed by ten, twelve the latest, had to start staying up past twelve just to try to get up to speed, but for some reason, you always managed to go back to being behind. So, you would stay up past twelve again to get back on track and you would lose focus in class because you were so tired...

The vicious cycle would repeat itself.

What exactly were you doing wrong? You were usually so good with keeping your study life in check. Why did this have to happen?

Armin immediately noticed how off you were. He's smart, very smart and far from blind. You tried to appear fine in front of him, but he could see right through you. Being together for the better part of three years had him knowing you better than the back of his hand. Plus, you were starting to develop bags under your eyes. You reassured him, that you were OK, you just needed some uninterrupted sleep, which was the truth. He invited you for some Netflix and you ended up taking a nap on him, exactly as he planned. 

However, you had not asked for any more help from Armin so far.

He knew how stubborn you can be and he knew that asking for help not only made you feel like you were losing, but it also took a hit on your confidence a bit.

You were, again, completing your school work past midnight, when Armin found you bent over at your desk. He could tell you were tired, but you were so determined to finish your work. You were strong, he knew you were. He'll help you as soon as you felt comfortable accepting it. The next day after class, you decided to take a stroll in the local park not so far from your dorm.

_You had missed the entire lecture._

Throughout the entirety, you were so out of it from lack of sleep. You tried to listen and take notes, but you knew that if you looked at your notes right now, there would be nothing but chicken scratch and jibberish. You were tired, _so_ tired. So mentally spent, you were beside yourself. You honestly didn't even know how you got yourself to the park. A worried Armin didn't find you in your shared dorm, and thought that perhaps he'll find you at the park you liked to visit. He indeed found you, sitting on a bench and bent over forward with your face in your hands. He didn't need to speak to you to know what you were doing or what was wrong. You were out of juice, he knew you were and now you were crashing. Carefully, so as to not startle you too badly, he sat down next to you and put an arm around your shoulders. You still startled slightly, looking at him in confusion as he pulled you closer. When you saw it was your boyfriend, you immediately started to tear up. Noticing, he decided to save you from embarrassment, gently shushing you, standing up and taking you with him, starting for your dorm all the while holding you. No sooner than setting one foot into your dorm did you start crying out of frustration, Armin barely having time to shut the door behind you. He pulled you to the couch, then to himself, letting you cry on his shoulder until you calmed down and were ready to speak. 

"Want to tell me about it?" Armin asked gently when you calmed down.

"I couldn't concentrate in class at all today..." you explained. "And my notes probably make no sense..." Armin rubbed your back as you spoke. "Ever since I got sick, I've been behind classes and no matter what I do, I can't catch up! I must be stupid, babe, I mean, how else—"

"Hey, hey, hey." Armin gently stopped your running train of thought. There was no way he was going to let his lovely partner talk about themselves this way. "You are _not_ stupid. You're just behind. I'll help you, OK? You'll catch up in no time."

He cupped your face with both of his hands gently and stared at you with a soft expression until you reluctantly agreed with him, slowly nodding your head. You're confidence was definitely taking a hit. He'll get you be back to being your happy and confident self again in no time, you just need a little help at the moment. Thankfully, it's the weekend, Friday, and both you and him have zero classes until Monday. Armin had finished most of his work for the week, except for what was due on Monday. He's got to get you to that point and he knew that with his notes and your swift workmanship, you'll get it done. Even if it takes you the whole weekend.

But first,

"How about a game night? Eren's been dying for a Smash rematch."

"Yeah," you sniffed, "I guess..."

"We can invite Marco and Jean, too."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he shared a look at you. Both Jean and Eren are good friends to you and Armin, but those two constantly argued with each other like an old married couple. You once witnessed them go at it over jellyfish.

_**Jellyfish**_!

How does one even go about talking about jellyfish, of all things? You honestly have no idea how they came about talking about the odd topic, especially since the topic before jellyfish was nowhere near anything that had to do about ocean creatures, let alone jellyfish specifically.

"Jean and Eren? In the same room?"

His sentimence exactly. You're expression, however, made him laugh, which in turn made you laugh with him.

"You're right. Bad idea."

"Invite them both. Otherwise, I'd just be kicking Eren's ass the whole night."

There's the confident Y/n he knows and loves.  
~*~  
"What the fuck, Jean! You threw me off the stage!" Eren shouted as his character blew up under the current stage with a cry, then revived, floating over the stage.

"You were in my way!"

"Try not running around like a chicken without its head." you teased Eren with a smirk, just as you made Jean's character blast off stage.

Jean cussed under his breath and went into action as soon as his character floated above the stage.

Armin, Mikasa and Marco sat back and contently watched the game play, also enjoying the bickering and eating the snacks Armin had provided. You needed this, your friends could tell the moment they stepped into your dorm room. Instead of instantly jumping into Jean and Eren's face about being ready to be beaten by you yet again, you seemed dejected and quiet. Eren and Jean immediately went over to you and did what you usually do, challenging you to pick up a controller and get ready. One the very few times Jean and Eren refrained from bickering with each other to make sure you were all right. They didn't even wait for your answer, tossing one of the Switch controllers your way and starting up the game. However, as soon as you started to feel better, they were immediately back to their normal behaviors, bickering with each other and at you. Still, it made you smile. It means they cared.

It didn't take long for you to finish off the remainder of their lives, forcing their characters to clap for yours. They both sighed at you and sent you a mock glare as you faked a yawn.

"Next one!" Eren challenged. "I'll show you who'll to be yawning!"

You laughed as Jean rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Yeah, you. You'll get tired of losing all the time."

"You, shut up! It's not like you're doing any better!"

"I'm doing great, compared to you. At least I'm not the one who always loses all his lives the minute the match starts!"

"Keep talking, I'm takin' you down first!" Eren then turned to you. "And you're next!"

You didn't need to say a word. You just let them take care of all the threats as you smirked. This was your game and they don't own it themselves, of course you were better at it than they were. Eren made good on his threats and actually made Jean lose all his lives first. It came close, but you took a risk-it-all approach as you and Eren were on your last lives. You ran both yourself and him off the screen, making sure his character was beneath yours so he would lose first, thus giving you the win.

"Are you serious?!" he fumed.

You simply started cackling, and he got up with a huff to grab some more snacks and drinks. You took a moment to calm down before you looked to all your friends in the room.

"Thanks for coming guys." you said with genuine appreciation in your tone.

"You owed us a rematch." Jean said, getting up as well.

"Pfft!" you scoffed with a smile on your face. What is he, a tsundere? A simple "You're welcome" would have sufficed!

"We're always happy to visit." Marco replied to you.

"Hard time with school?" Mikasa asked softly.

"Yeah..." you nodded. "I feel better now, though."

"Just keep at it." you heard Eren's voice next to you as he sat back down on the couch with his bowl of chips and soda can. "You're smart. Whatever it is, you'll kick it's ass eventually."

"Aw, Yeager!" you cooed at him. "Who knew you could be such a motivational speaker?"

"We can leave." Eren suddenly blurted. "They're fine."

"What?! No, no! I'm sorry!" you laughed, grabbing at him so he couldn't get up and leave.

"Agh!" he grunted as you pulled him down unexpectedly, then complained. "Come on!"

After chatting for a bit and having some snacks, you had a couple more matches with Marco joining the fray, before Mikasa noted that it was late and they should probably start heading for their own dorms soon. You finished it up with a thank you as you saw them out the door, Marco and an agreeing Mikasa saying that they'll come and visit again before the weekend ends. Afterwards, Armin suggested that you and him watch some Netflix, but you said you would rather try and get some sleep with him by your side. You both quickly got ready for bed, then you snuggled happily against your boyfriend.

"Thanks, babe." your voice was slightly muffled with the way you were pressing your face against him.

"I'm beside you every step of the way." he replied. "You scared me when I couldn't find you after class."

"Sorry. I'm lucky to have someone who'll look for me _and_ pick me up when I've fallen." you pressed a kiss to his temple. "So lucky."

Your smile widened, watching how his cheeks lit up a pretty shade of pink as he chuckled with a bit of embarrassment. He's so cute sometimes.

"Let's work hard tomorrow." Armin said.

"I'll catch up before the end of this weekend, just you watch!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So lucky.
> 
> I feel like I could have done better with the ending! I'm so sorry! ;—; But, I hope you enjoyed it anyway!
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!


	14. Mischievous!Reader - Pranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Krolina in which Reader and the girls come up with a list of pranks for the boys!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no see, everyone! Life and interning has kept me busy for quite some time, but I'm back with a request! This request was long overdue, and I'm sorry for that. I hope you still like it, Krolina!
> 
> For context, Reader and company live in a big dormitory building, but Reader visits her family home to host a slumber party.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes, I hope you enjoy!

The girls have been extremely secretive with the boys recently. They started being hush hush and whispering to each other about something or other for most of the day and it had the boys curious as to what was going on. Even Y/n, who was usually a tight ball of joy; always ready to burst, was keeping her usual bursting personality in check. If that didn't ring any bells with the boys, perhaps it was when all of the girls formed around each other and sat together.

"What are they doing?" a question rang out between the boys.

"Probably plotting against us." Jean muttered.

"Jean." Marco lightly chastised him. "Try not to be so negative."

"Y/n's there, you know." Reiner chimed in. "Between her and Sasha, I wouldn't put it passed them."

Y/n, with her bubbly and upbeat personality, clicked with Sasha and quickly became best friends. They would both often get into mischievous activities together, with Y/n always at the reins and Sasha at the ready behind her.

"But Historia's there, too." Armin spoke up.

"Not to mention Mikasa and Annie." Eren added. "Those two are usually the ones who shut Y/n down."

"That's true." Connie agreed.

The boys huddled together trying to come up with what Y/n and the rest of the girls were up to. They found Y/n's sudden quiet demeanor very suspicious. Something was up, they felt in their guts.

"So, my house?" Y/n asked softly, smiling ear to ear.

"Your house is the most spacious." Sasha said.

"Actually, that's Annie's." Y/n pointed to the blonde girl.

"...My parents would never allow it."

"Bummer." Y/n pouted.

Since she's known Annie, she's always found her mysterious, just like Mikasa. Y/n made friends with Mikasa earlier on in the year, leaving only one mysterious girl left. She befriended Annie just to find out why she was being mysterious, but what she found was a girl who didn't really know how to make friends and that said girl's family was well off. As soon as Y/n spotted that crack in the walls Annie built up around herself, she took her mallet and smashed it to pieces, introducing Annie to the friends Y/n had already made and held her hand the entire way. Y/n was going to get her so many friends, she won't be able to get away from them, Y/n herself included and it worked! Now, Annie would still sometimes separate herself for some alone time, but she would more often than not be involved in whatever was going on. This time included.

"Your parents are kind of boring." Y/n continued pouting, but Annie only shrugged.

She knew Y/n was just butt hurt about the fact that she can't come over her house as much as she wanted.

"So, this Friday!" Y/n exclaimed softly, her happy cheer back as if it didn't leave in the first place. "Can everyone make it?"

The girls nodded in quiet response and Y/n grinned mischievously as she took out her notebook.

"I think we should prank the boys. If you guys have ideas, I want to write it down!"

Mikasa shook her head in mock disappointment. "You really think the boys will fall for that?"

"Just you watch, they won't know what hit 'em!" Y/n replied. "So, any ideas?"

"Um..." a male voice behind Y/n made her jump, quickly shutting her journal-looking-notebook with a loud thud.

"Bertholdt?!" she cried in surprise.

"Hi...What are you girls were doing?"

Reiner wanted to face-palm, but refrained from doing so, knowing that would cause a scene. When he convinced Bertholdt to investigate, he wasn't supposed to make it obvious! He was supposed make small talk, make the girls, especially Y/n, think he came over just to chit chat and then try slip in a question that might get at least one of those girls to give him some kind of hint, but he blew it immediately!

"Hello, Annie." Bertholdt seemed to become even more bashful as he waved at the blonde girl.

"Hello." she waved back.

"How could you?" Y/n looked Bertholdt right in the face with an unwavering you-should-be-ashamed pout.

"What?"

"You were trying to read my journal, weren't you?" she accused the poor boy, who seemed taken aback.

"N-No, I wasn't..."

"I have things in here that only the girls should know and you're trying to snoop! Such a heinous act of breach of privacy, I can't believe you." she continued, holding the journal against her chest. 

"But, I wasn't—"

"You! Of all people, Bertholdt!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Y/n had to focus all her willpower to not laugh. Sure, he was tall, but the way she and the girls were huddled over her desk, she was sure he wouldn't have been able to see the contents. Embarrassed, Bertholdt turned and returned to the rest of the boys, some of which were giving him looks. He played right into her hands.

Y/n sat back down as she watched Bertholdt flee and tried her hardest to keep her laughter down.

"Y/n!" Sasha chided her, but couldn't keep the amused smile off her face.

"It worked, didn't it?" she smiled back at her. "I'll apologize to him later."

After another short conversation, the group of girls decided that they should talk more in the privacy of Y/n's house, so they dispersed for now. Which meant the boys lost their chance to get a clear answer. Before the girls departed for Y/n's house, Y/n made good on her promise, approached Bertholdt and apologized. He forgave her, which she was thankful for, but she still didn't tell him anything specific. Just that she didn't want him to see her journal, so she chased him away. The girls separated when it was time to go home, most excited about the sleepover.

* * *

Sasha was the first to arrive at Y/n's place four hours earlier than the agreed time. Y/n had no qualms about it as she was almost done with setting everything up, from snacks to entertainment. Since Sasha was here early, Y/n employed her to help her finish, while also stopping Sasha from trying to eat all the snacks. Y/n swore she had a bottomless stomach. With an extra hand, Y/n finished early and decided to play a video game with Sasha while she waited for everyone else. As it was nearly evening, Y/n's friends finally started to arrive. First was Historia accompanied by Ymir.

"Welcome!" Y/n greeted as she opened the door.

"Yo." Ymir greeted back.

"Thank you for inviting us!" Historia said, stepping into the house, Ymir following close behind.

After, it was Mikasa, who silently nodded after Y/n opened the door and greeted her. Annie was the last to arrive, she muttered a soft, "Hi." after Y/n greeted her.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get this party started! Sasha, if you finish that bag by yourself, you don't get to have anymore snacks!" Y/n said with a smile on her face.

Sasha instantly paused mid-chew and set down the huge party sized potato chip bag down. She was already halfway done with the bag. Y/n shook her head at her best friend. Honestly, now...

By way of a vote, the decision to watch a movie was made. Y/n told Sasha to distribute the drinks while she made a couple batches of popcorn and gave everyone one bowl each. Sasha opened her mouth to complain, but Y/n sent her a smile that had made her reconsider. By way of another vote, an action/thriller movie won and was chosen. Y/n personally loves horror, but she still enjoyed the chosen movie. Next, she asked if anyone was up for video games and suggested Mario party, since it was a fairly easy game for the non-players in their group compared to, say, Smash Ultimate. The game went on for awhile especially since everyone was playing, rotating players with the same characters, but everyone was having a blast. Then, the moment Y/n's been most excited about. While everyone came down from their gaming high, Y/n went ahead and fetched her notebook. The fun discussion is to begin now.

"So, I only have a couple of ideas, but I would really like some more." Y/n started, uncapping a pen to write with.

"Have you put down the water bucket above the door yet?" Ymir immediately pitched an idea.

"I have not! That's a classic!" Y/n replied.

"Would that really work?" Sasha asked.

"Probably not." Ymir honestly replied. "But she wanted an idea, so I gave her one."

Y/n shook her head. She wants actual doable and believable ideas, not ones that would immediately flop, but she wrote it down anyway, putting a question mark next to the idea.

"We can put thumbtacks in their shoes." Mikasa suggested.

The room went quiet for a moment.

"That might actually hurt them, Mikasa." Y/n said, but all she got was a shrug.

She wrote it down anyway, putting a question mark beside it and mentally noted that the thumbtacks should be replaced with something else.

"We can try scaring them?" Y/n was surprised this suggestion came from Krista.

"We can!" Y/n replied and jotted that down as well.

"That might be a challenge." Annie spoke up. "Some of the boys don't scare easily."

"How do you know that?" Y/n asked.

"Reiner and Bertholdt went to the same elementary and middle school I went to. I've known them for most of my life."

A chorus of cool and wows rung in the room.

"You didn't tell me that before!" Y/n exclaimed incredulously.

"You never asked." was her curt reply.

_'Of course.'_ Y/n playfully rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Reiner definitely doesn't scare easily." Y/n thought out loud.

"Neither does Bertholdt." Annie added.

"Really?!"

"It might seem like he does, but he doesn't. He's just timid when he approaches people on his own."

Well, shoot. If there was someone Y/n thought would be an easy target, she had thought one of them would be Bertholdt, but that thought was dashed away. She jotted down the new information, making another mental note that if she was going to scare anyone, those two would not be it.

"What if we pretended to be in trouble?" Sasha pitched.

A couple of disinterested hums circled around.

"Definitely Eren and possibly Reiner would fall for that, but if there's a culprit, they'll try to beat them up first and ask questions later, especially Eren. That can get dangerous." Y/n explained.

"Not to mention, Armin would give us an earful afterwards." Mikasa added.

"Yikes. No, thanks." Y/n finished.

"Aw!" Sasha whined. "How about feigning an injury?"

"That's mean, but it gives me an idea." Y/n commented, jotting it down anyway. "Okay, I think I might have enough ideas. This will be great."

Y/n's smile was the very picture of mischievous. When the girls return to the shared dorms, they boys will be in for some harmless tricks.

* * *

Feigning an injury happened randomly when the time was right.

"Hey, Y/n." Conny greeted.

*Perfect.* Y/n smiled at him, but there was a much more mischievous smile hiding behind her friendly one.

"Hi, Connie! How was your weekend?"

"Relaxing. I breezed right through my work before the weekend started and I didn't have any chores." Connie smugly recounted.

"You mean you copied from Armin and skipped on your chores." Y/n smirked at him.

"I didn't skip! I finished them all!"

"So you _did_ copy off of Armin!"

"No, I didn't! Armin helped me through the work, but I didn't copy!"

"Alright, alright. I'm just messing with ya, I know you work hard. I'll make it up to you. How about I—_Ugh!"_ Y/n suddenly bent over and grunted, her hands over her belly as if in pain. _"My squeedily spooch!"_

Nearby, Ymir and Krista heard Y/n's distress and poked their heads into the room to check on her. As soon as the words "squeedily spooch" left her lips, they knew what she was up to.

"Really, Y/n?" Ymir muttered under her breath as Krista was trying to quietly giggle behind her hand.

"Are you OK, Y/n?!" Connie startled and was conflicted on leaving to find someone to help or staying and figure out what was wrong himself. "What's a squeedily spooch? What do you need?!"

Y/n started shaking from trying to keep in her laughter, hiding her face by keeping her head low, but Connie took her shaking as a negative and panicked even more.

"Ok, st-stay here and I'll get someone to help me help you!" he said, then sprinted away.

Y/n slowly made her way toward the couch, still doubled over and face planted herself in the cushions to let out the laugh she couldn't hold in any longer.

"Y/n!" she heard Ymir call out to her. "You better get out of here before he comes back."

Y/n waved at her while slowly getting up, still giggling uncontrollably.

A little while later, Y/n heard a rather irritated call of her name by none other than Connie. She spend the next couple of hours avoiding him, before Armin, the one who usually mediates dorm situations, found her and she was forced to apologize. She couldn't do it with a straight face, she would start giggling about Connie's ask about what a squeedily spooch was before she could even finish her sentence, so he just took the unfinished apology. It was the best he was going to get.

**Feigning an injury: Success!**

The next day, Y/n decided to put something in the boy's shoes. Mikasa had suggested thumbtacks, but that will hurt them. Y/n instead purchased fake, squishy spiders for a harmless spook. She put it in Armin's shoes while no one was looking and sat back, telling Mikasa that her plan was in full swing. Hours later, she and Mikasa heard one of the girlest yelps she had ever heard and she instantly snickered, knowing that Armin had found her surprise. Mikasa smiled in triumph.

**"Y/n!"** the two girls heard him shout.

When he turned to the living room where he last saw Y/n, she and Mikasa were nowhere to be found. She's lucky he's in a hurry, but she's in for an earful when he gets back.

**Discomfort in shoes and scare: Success!**

Y/n couldn't bring herself to be mean to Bertholdt again or Marco, who's always been way too nice to her, so she played a small one that would still make her giggle, but wouldn't infuriate them.

"Hey, Marco?" she said, sitting down next to him.

"What's the matter, Y/n?"

"This is going to sound really weird, but I'm trying something out, so I just need you to do as I say."

Marco rose a suspicious eyebrow, so Y/n was quick to try and reassure him. She really wasn't going to pull her normal pranks on him.

"I promise it's nothing bad. I could never do that to you, Marco."

"But you can do it to everyone else?"

"Wee~ll, not _everyone_..."

He sent her a pointed look and she shot him puppy eyes, hoping that would be enough to persuade him.

"...Alright." he finally relented, sighing.

"Great!" Y/n smiled excitedly. "Look up."

_'This is a bad idea, isn't it?'_ Marco thought.

Given her track record when it came to being mischievous, he didn't know if he could trust her to not prank him, although they *were* usually harmless. He's going to trust her just this once.

"Good, now raise your arms."

He rose his arms.

"Put them down. Roll your head and turn away from me."

Ok? Why exactly was it that she was making him do this again?

"Oh, wait, I think maybe that wasn't right."

As he turned his head to ask her what was going on, she had positioned her finger so that when he did, her finger would poke his cheek. He was ever so slightly confused, but when she giggled at him, he saw an almost childlike charm that had him smiling at her.

"Alright." he chuckled, putting a hand on her head.

Happily, she practically bounded away. Marco shook his head at her antics, following her to the kitchen area she had seen Bertholdt enter and watched her exclaim at Bertholdt as a conversation starter.

It must be Bertholdt's turn..Marco was curious how he would react. He imagined that he wouldn't trust her enough to let her do whatever it was after the last time she humiliated him.

"Bertholdt!"

The young man lightly startled, immediately giving Y/n his attention.

"Hi." he meekly answered her.

"Hi!" she cheerfully continued. "I was looking for my black tea earlier and since you're taller than me, I think you might have a better time looking for them? I was thinking that maybe it was put at a higher shelf on those cupboards." she pointed to the cupboards at his eye level.

Marco knew for a fact Y/n didn't keep her tea in the kitchen. Someone used more than half of her last box and he found her dejected about it. He felt bad for her, so he bought her a new box and she put it in her room.

"Oh..." Bertholdt opened the cupboards, searching for her "missing" item. "I don't see it."

"Maybe it's to your left?" she pointed once more but kept her finger in the way so when he turns his head, she'll get him.

"Hm...I still don't see it. Are you sure—" he turned his head and cut his own sentence short as her finger poked your cheek.

"Got ya!" she softly cheered, giggling at his slight surprise.

He shook his head, softly huffing at her, then smiling.

"You got me." he repeated, only now noticing Marco, who watched the entire thing.

Marco walked further into the cooking space to stand near him as Y/n happily rushed away, probably to cause more mischief among the rest of her dorm mates.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Bertholdt asked after she left.

"We're in trouble. She even targeted us. I think she's making her rounds, so Jean's turn is coming soon." Marco sighed, mentally preparing himself. Jean was sure to vent to him after she gets to him, too.

A day later, Jean did indeed find him, but it wasn't in the situation Marco thought. He thought Jean would tell him after the fact, not while in the process of perusing Y/n. Jean was so angry, a vein has poked out on his temple and for some reason, he was soaked from head to toe. Earlier that day, Marco saw Y/n and Sasha with a bucket filled with water walking in the same direction that Jean was now coming from.

"Marco!" Jean angrily called him, effectively startling him.

"Jean?" Marco called back, and was surprised to see him soaked. "Why are you—"

"Have you seen her?!"

Ah. Y/n really was making her rounds. Annie happened to walk into the room, saw a soaked, angry Jean, locked eyes with him, then turned and walked back to the room she just came from. Annie doesn't normally do that. Jean followed her up the doorway to find her trying to quietly laugh halfway down the hallway and she wasn't even being discreet. This further angered Jean, and he proceeded to stomp his way forward. Y/n's in for it once he finds her.

**Water bucket: Success!**

Watching Jean stomp off to another room, Eren and Reiner—who were both on the couch—collectively came to the realization that Y/n has been pranking their male friends all week. They were the only two left who haven't been picked on yet. They looked at each other and came to a silent agreement: they have to get Y/n before Y/n gets them.

As if on cue, Y/n poked her into the room, watching for her latest victim. Seems Jean's going to take a while finding her. Eren and Reiner locked eyes with her and she must have seen words of challenge in their hardened eyes.

"What?" she smirked.

She knew exactly what. It was only a matter of time before they realized what was happening. It's not like she was making it obvious or anything.

"You won't get us." Reiner said with a determined expression.

"You better watch your back." Eren threatened.

Y/n chuckled, her smirk growing on her lips. "We'll see about that."

Challenge accepted. **Let the games begin.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the games begin.
> 
> If you have any requests for a character you would like to read about, please comment down below! Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Hey! I have a Tumblr! Drop by @Koyukiy and say hi!


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